Connor, Hellebuyck propel Jets to 3-0 win over Ducks

“It’s awesome,” said Hellebuyck, who didn’t face a shot until midway through the first period. “It gets a monkey off my back, but it’s a tribute to the way all the guys played. … I feel like I answered the bell, and the guys in front of me made it easy for me.”

Mark Scheifele scored a power-play goal in the first period and Nikolaj Ehlers added a goal for the Jets, who extended their lead atop the Central Division to three points over Nashville. Jacob Trouba had two assists as the Jets completed a Southern California sweep and moved into position to clinch a playoff berth as early as Thursday in Vegas.

“It definitely wasn’t a pretty one,” Scheifele said. “It definitely wasn’t our best game. There’s a lot of things we should have cleaned up, and that won’t fly against a good team like Vegas.”

John Gibson stopped 20 shots for the Ducks, who were shut out for the seventh time in 2019 despite another fairly solid performance on the tail end of a lost season.

“We definitely had our chances,” forward Jakob Silfverberg said. “We should have scored at least one or two, and the game would have been different. We took too many penalties. It’s tough killing a lot of penalties. Tough to get a rhythm going with all four lines when you’re doing that.”

Winnipeg (44-25-4) has 92 points and a game in hand on Nashville (42-27-5). The Predators have eight games left to make up the deficit, or the Jets will win their first division title since relocating from Atlanta.

Winnipeg is headed to the playoffs for the second straight season after making it just once — and then getting swept by a powerhouse Ducks team — in the franchise’s first six seasons up north.

The Ducks would need an extraordinary late surge to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time in seven years and just the third time since the 2004-05 lockout.

The teams met for the first time since the Jets beat Anaheim 9-3 in Winnipeg on Feb. 2, matching the highest-scoring performance in Winnipeg history and the worst defensive performance in Anaheim history.

The Jets scored a franchise-record six goals in the first period of that Ducks demolition in Winnipeg last month, but Scheifele got their only goal of the opening period in this rematch, converting a feed from Connor for his team-leading 35th goal of the season.

After a scoreless second, Connor extended the Jets’ lead when he deflected Tyler Myers’ shot for his 29th goal.

“They got a couple of lucky bounces on their goals, and we couldn’t find the back of the net,” Ducks assistant coach Marty Wilford said.

Ehlers added his 19th goal shortly afterward, when Gibson failed to cover the near post and allowed a stoppable shot to slip through.

NOTES: Jets D Joe Morrow returned from a 14-game absence with a lower-body injury apparently incurred during a fight with Colorado’s Matt Calvert. Morrow dropped the gloves with Anaheim’s Corey Perry in the second period of his first game back. … Winnipeg D Nathan Beaulieu was scratched with an undisclosed injury, while C Jack Roslovic, who had a hat trick against Anaheim last month, returned after being a healthy scratch in the Jets’ last game. … Ducks C Ryan Kesler missed his seventh straight game with a hip injury. Anaheim D Andy Welinski stepped in for Jacob Larsson, who was scratched.

UP NEXT

Jets: At Vegas on Thursday night.

Ducks: Host San Jose on Friday night.

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More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Greg Beacham, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

Connor, Hellebuyck propel Jets to 3-0 win over Ducks

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