In Winnipeg, Sam Gagner‘s third period goal gave the Jets a 3-2 lead on Tuesday night.
Connor Hellebuyck, who made 33 saves, protected the lead for the win over the Calgary Flames.
“It’s almost like we just expect [Hellebuyck] to be almost exceptional every night,” the Jets’ Brenden Dillon said. “We’re really lucky here with the Jets to have him.
“[Hellebuyck] picks up our bench when we need a save or a turning point like that, and for us to be able to get some run support for him, it feels nice to reward him after how well he’s been playing.”
The Jets improved to 24-13-1.
The Jets took a 1-0 lead on a second period goal from Dillon.
“We put a lot of focus in training camp on getting our ‘D’ a lot more involved,” Winnipeg coach Rick Bowness said. “There are five guys around the net, and it’s tough to make cute little plays in there. It really is. The only way to get them to move is to get the puck back to your defense, then someone has to come out a little bit, which opens up a little space around the net.”
Calgary dropped to 18-14-7.
“Close game,” Calgary coach Darryl Sutter said. “We’ve played a lot of close games this year. You need one of your big scorers to step up and make a play.”
Calgary tied the game, 1-1, on a goal from Nikita Zadorov.
“I think as the game went on we started finding our legs,” Zadorov said. “They’re an experienced team, they play tough hockey, especially at home. We lost the coverage on all three goals, kind of cost us today. They scored more goals than us, that’s the result.”
Josh Morrissey restored the Jets lead midway through the third period.
Mikael Backlund tied it for the Flames at 11:58 of the third.
“It’s a frustrating loss,” Backlund said. “It was a tight game, came down all the way to the end, and it’s frustrating because we’ve got to find a way to win this game. It’s another one that we let go, didn’t find a way to win.”
Jacob Markstrom made 22 saves in the Flames loss.
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