In St Paul, Saturday afternoon, Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves for the Winnipeg Jets to record a 6-0 shutout of the Minnesota Wild.
“I think the guys in front of me played fantastic,” Hellebuyck said. “Anytime they put up six, it helps. I just thought our overall game, we never took a shift off.”
Blake Wheeler collected a goal and two points on the effort to become the Jets’ all-time leading scorer.
“It’s not something I’ve set out to do or thought about,” Wheeler said. “I really feel like the product of some good teams and I’ve played on some really good lines. I play a lot of minutes, so I just feel fortunate for the opportunities I’ve had here and the guys I get to play with every night.”
It listless effort from the Wild.
“The fans wanted to cheer today,” Minnesota head coach Bruce Boudreau said. “I could go through the whole roster, but I don’t think there was anybody that looked like they had a lot of energy.”
Wheeler, Mark Scheifele and Patrik Laine staked the Jets to a 3-0 lead.
“The last couple games have been rough for us,” Wheeler said. “We ran into some teams that have played well. We were playing really well for such a long time that I think that grind got away from us a little bit for a couple games. Sometimes you just need a good feeling to get it back rolling. It was good to jump on them early, especially in this building. It can get out of whack pretty quickly if you’re not on your toes, so it was nice to get a good start in here, and a huge one before the break to get it rolling.”
Nikolaj Ehlers, Patrik Laine and Logan Shaw rounded out the scoring.
[WATCH: All Jets vs. Wild highlights]
Alex Stalock made 22 saves in the loss; he was given the hook after the haw goal.
“We went through the first 10 games where we only won [three],” Boudreau said. “If we can’t bounce back after a couple losses – we’ve lost three out of four right now – if we can’t bounce back, then it’s not the group I thought we had.”
Devan Dubnyk made three saves in a mop up role.
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