In Winnipeg, the Jets grabbed a 2-0 win over the visiting Nashville Predators on Saturday.
Connor Hellebuyck made 28 saves in a clutch performance for the Jets.
“Without [Hellebuyck], we probably would have lost some games down the stretch that we had,” Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers said. “He’s kept us in this fight. We like him a lot. … The way that he’s played for us all year and the last couple of years, but especially this year, is pretty impressive.”
The Jets moved three points clear of the Predators in the wild card race in the Western Conference.
The game was scoreless until 15:06 of the middle frame when Mark Scheifele s scored to give the Jets a 1-0 lead.
“Forty goals, that’s a [heck] of a season, and he’s got three more games to add onto that,” Winnipeg coach Rick Bowness said. “And he could have had the empty-netter. I think that’s a good example of our perseverance tonight. We stayed with it. We were getting all of those chances. He hit the post a couple of times. He had some great looks. But we stayed in the fight, and Mark’s goal was a perfect example of that.”
Nashville dropped to 40-31-8.
“They were on top of people and didn’t give us a lot of time and space,” Nashville coach John Hynes said. “But there were multiple opportunities where I thought we just threw pucks away and then we got half-iced in the game. So that was the biggest lesson coming out of this game, where we need to do a better job against Calgary on Monday.”
Neal Pionk m added insurance early in the third stanza for a 2-0 lead, and final score.
Juuse Saros made 36 saves in the loss.
“You don’t really have much time to think when so many shots come against you,” Saros said. “They spent quite a bit of time in our zone there, so you just try to see the puck as well as you can.”
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