Hellebuyck's shutout leads Jets past Sharks
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Connor Hellebuyck stops 17 shots for his third shutout of the season as the Winnipeg Jets beat the San Jose Sharks 1-0 on Wednesday night.
Morgan Barron scored as the Jets won their second straight after a season-high five-game skid. Hellebuyck got his 35th career shutout and became the 10th goalie in NHL history to allow three goals or fewer for the 30 consecutive games in the regular season.
Kaapo Kahkonen stopped 39 shots for the Sharks, who were playing for the first time since Jan. 31 and fell to 4-2-2 in their last eight games.
The Sharks had four shots over the first 4:35 of the game while the Jets had none. Winnipeg then rattled off 15 straight shots on goal, with Barron scoring on the 13th with 2:37 remaining in the opening period. Neal Pionk’s shot was tipped by Adam Lowry and then deflected off Barron for his career-high ninth.
Winnipeg added two more shots to finish the period with a 15-4 advantage.
The Jets got one more shot early in the second period before San Jose recorded its fifth one at 1:30, going a span of 16:55 without a shot on goal.
Jets forward Nino Niederreiter had four good chances to score in the second but was denied by Kahkonen.
Sharks forward Anthony Duclair looked like he might have scored late in the period, but the play was reviewed and it was confirmed the puck didn’t cross the line before it hit Mark Scheifele, who got behind Hellebuyck in the net to help out the goalie.
Winnipeg led 31-12 in shots on goal after 40 minutes.
San Jose forward Nico Sturm went slowly to the dressing room 8:50 into the third after he was checked hard into the boards by Jets defenseman Logan Stanley and his head hit the ice.
The Jets finished 0 for 2 on the power pay to fall to 0 for 21 over their last eight games. San Jose is 12 for 12 on the penalty-kill over its last five games.
The Sharks were without forwards Logan Couture (groin) and Tomas Hertl, who had knee surgery Monday to clean up cartilage, but forward Mikael Granlund was back after missing the previous six games.
UP NEXT
Sharks: At Calgary on Thursday night to complete a back-to-back and two-game trip.
Jets: At Vancouver on Saturday night to open a two-game trip.
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