Nino Niederreiter scored two goals and Connor Hellebuyck had to make just 21 saves for his second shutout of the season as the Winnipeg Jets continued their stellar start with a 3-0 victory over the visiting Utah Hockey Club on Tuesday night.
Gabriel Vilardi also scored and Adam Lowry added two assists for Winnipeg, which wasn’t dominant while improving to a franchise-best 12-1-0. Still, the Jets won their fourth game in a row while not allowing Utah to consistently threaten.
Niederreiter posted his second multigoal of the season, and Hellebuyck wasn’t seriously challenged but came through when needed to record his 39th career shutout.
Meanwhile, Utah got a solid night in net from Karel Vejmelka (25 saves) but went 0-for-4 on the power play. Utah is 0-3-2 on the road since winning its first two away from home.
Winnipeg held a 12-6 shots-on-goal advantage during a scoreless first period. Vejmelka was solid throughout, playing with plenty of confidence for a netminder making his third start of the season.
Utah showed more jump in the second period and produced quality offensive looks. However, Winnipeg opened the scoring with 2:03 remaining before the second intermission.
During the waning seconds of a Jets power play, and with Utah’s four attackers on the ice for an extended amount of time, Josh Morrissey sent a drive toward the net that Vilardi managed to get a piece of and knock past Vejmelka.
The Jets are an impressive 16-for-36 on the power play this season after going 1-for-2 on Tuesday.
Hellebuyck preserved the Jets’ lead with less than 20 seconds remaining in the second, making a nifty glove save on Utah star Clayton Keller.
Winnipeg extended its advantage with 12:30 remaining in regulation via a three-on-two rush. Set up by Mason Appleton and Lowry, Niederreiter calmly deked Vejmelka to convert the insurance goal.
Niederreiter scored his seventh goal of the season with 2:59 remaining, an empty-netter.
–Field Level Media
