WINNIPEG – After three days off for Christmas, the Winnipeg Jets were back at it against the Pittsburgh Penguins who were coming off a big win Saturday night against the Wild.
The Jets have had a disappointing season so far and are looking to get rolling as they see themselves eight points back in the wild card race.
With pending free agents Andrew Ladd and Dustin Byfuglien still unsigned, things will get interesting in the upcoming days for sure.
The team took a huge step forward Sunday with a 1-0 win in large part because of their young goaltender, Connor Hellebuyck, who was nothing short of spectacular.
Hellebuyck stopped all 30 shots he faced and committed robbery on Phil Kessel and Chris Kunitz at least twice each. Hellebuyck made some big stops off Sidney Crosby as well to earn his first NHL shutout. He improves to 6-3 on the season.
“[Hellebuyck] was outstanding,” said Jets center Bryan Little. “Every time he needed to make a big save, he made one for us and kept us in the game. He did everything he needed to do for us to win.”
This was a very exciting game as both teams were going hard back and forth at each other all night.
“I’m just really excited that I finally got this milestone,” Hellebuyck said
Paul Maurice had to tweak his lineup as Mark Sheifele was placed on the IR with a concussion after a collision in practice with captain Andrew Ladd.
The Jets recalled Adam Lowry from the Manitoba Moose and he was put in at center after playing wing for most of the season. Lowry looked good as he was matched up a lot against Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and did a good job containing the two stars.
Little scored the lone goal on a penalty shot in the first period his 14th goal of the season.
“I didn’t know a lot about this goalie, but I knew I was going to shoot glove-side pretty much before I went,” Little said.
Pittsburgh had Jeff Zatkoff in the pipes as they are missing there starter Marc -Andre Fleury who is on the IR.
“I don’t know [Little] that well,” Zatkoff said. “I know he’s a scorer. He made a nice shot. I just missed it just right by the side of arm. It’s tough that that is the game-winner, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. I felt good all game. I just tried to battle and give our team a chance, keep it a one-goal game.”
Zatkoff was sharp tonight as he made 27 saves and was only beaten on the penalty shot. He did have some help from his goal posts as the Jets rang a couple off the bars tonight.
Hellebuyck will be taking Tyler Myers out for a meal or two as Myers made a couple of huge saves late in the game to help preserve the shutout.
“[The most impressive aspect] is he looks the same each night,” Jets coach Paul Maurice said of Hellebuyck. “He seems to have a really solid foundation to his game. He is really consistent in his approach, how he looks in the net and he stops the puck.”
The Jets got a strong game from all four lines and will need this type of depth if they hope to climb back in the playoff race. They got a really strong game from Byfuglien as well as he was throwing his weight around and also making some strong defensive plays.
“[Winnipeg] jumped on us early,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said. “We got on our heels a bit. I thought in the second (period), we did a better job and had some good chances.”
The Jets will have another Eastern Conference opponent to entertain as the Detroit Red Wings will be in town on Tuesday night.
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