Hellebuyck notches sixth shutout as Jets blank Blues
Connor Hellebuyck had 34 saves en route to his sixth shutout of the season to help lead the Winnipeg Jets to a 4-0 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Friday night at Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo.
Hellebuyck, making his 10th straight start, also finished with his 32nd win of the season, second only to Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy, who has 35. It also was the 12th shutout of his career.
Blake Wheeler and Kyle Connor each had a goal and an assist, Patrik Laine and Nic Petan scored goals and Mark Scheifele added a pair of assists for Winnipeg, which was playing its first road game since a 4-3 shootout loss at Anaheim on Jan. 25, a span of 28 days. The Jets remained in second place in the Central Division but closed to within two points of first-place Nashville.
Jake Allen had 19 saves in his losing his sixth straight home game since a 3-2 overtime win over Buffalo on Dec. 10. It was the fifth straight loss for the Blues, who hold a one-point lead over the Los Angeles Kings and Calgary Flames for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
The Jets, who lost to the Blues 5-2 on Feb. 9 during the team's franchise record 10-game homestand, scored three goals in an 8 1/2 minute span in the first period to take control.
Petan started the scoring at 10:03, tapping in a crossing pass from Scheifele past Allen's stick side for his second goal of the season.
Wheeler then made it 2-0 just 45 seconds later with his 18th goal of the season, rifling a wrist shot from the right circle past Allen's stick side.
Connor scored his 22nd goal on a power play at 18:31, flipping a rebound of a Wheeler shot over Allen's glove.
Laine finished the scoring at the 13:56 mark of the second period when he fired a wrist shot from the right circle past the stick side of Allen, who received several Bronx cheers when making saves the rest of the game.
--Field Level Media
