Jets shut out Wild in Game 5 for first series win

WINNIPEG -- The Winnipeg Jets won a series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time with a 5-0 victory against the Minnesota Wild in Game 5 of the Western Conference First Round at Bell MTS Place on Friday.

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Connor Hellebuyck made 30 saves for his second consecutive shutout. The Wild failed to score in the final seven periods of the series.
Mark Scheifele had a goal and an assist, and Jacob Trouba, Bryan Little, Brandon Tanev and Joel Armia scored for the Jets, who outscored the Wild 12-3 at home. Winnipeg has won 12 straight here.
The Jets scored four goals in the first 11:59 of the first period.
"I thought the team was great in front of me," Hellebuyck said. "The guys' details are fantastic. Anytime you can get that many (goals) in the first period, that kind of sinks the other team, especially deep in a series like this. They definitely got this one early."
The Jets will play the winner of the series between the Nashville Predators and Colorado Avalanche. The Predators' lead in that series was cut to 3-2 following the Avalanche's 2-1 win Friday.

Trouba gave the Jets a 1-0 lead 31 seconds into the first period on a wrist shot from the right face-off circle. Little made it 2-0 off a deflection in the slot at 5:42.
"I think when you have the opportunity to eliminate somebody, you want to jump on them as fast and hard as possible," Winnipeg captain Blake Wheeler said. "I think teams on the brink come in with hope, and the faster you take it away from them, you know, you can kind of squash them a little bit."

The Jets went up 3-0 after Tanev forced a turnover in the slot and scored on a wrist shot at 11:10. Armia made it 4-0 on a deflection 49 seconds later.
"I thought we were rattled," Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said. "I mean, we couldn't handle the puck very well. We weren't making our passes in the first 10 minutes. Looked like we were nervous out there, and they obviously took advantage of that."
Devan Dubnyk was pulled after allowing four goals on 10 shots. Alex Stalock made 14 saves in relief.

"It [stinks] having that as the last thing that you're going to think about and feel after a hard-fought season and a hard-fought series," Dubnyk said. "It certainly wasn't how the series went, and it [stinks] that that's going to be the last thing that we'll remember from the series."
Scheifele scored on the power play 32 seconds into the third period to make it 5-0.
"It just seems like everything went down in a hurry," Wild forward Charlie Coyle said. "They made some good plays. I think we kind of made it easy on them. They had odd-man rushes the other way and got in our zone and made us pay right away. It's definitely not the start we wanted. It's a tough one to come back from."

Goal of the game

Trouba's goal 31 seconds into the first period.

Save of the game

Hellebuyck's save against Nino Niederreiter at 10:42 of the first period.

Highlight of the game

Little's goal at 5:42 of the first period.

They said it

"It's really disappointing. I don't think that's indicative of the kind of team that we have. It was just a really tough night. Obviously with our backs against the wall, I think we all expected more and hoped for more and I think if we could do it all over again every guy would like to give more. I don't think it was a lack of effort; I honestly think it was we were on our heels a little bit and they ran with it. They are a very good team and they played very well and we didn't." -- Wild forward Matt Cullen
"I'm not pinching myself. This isn't a fairy tale. It feels real, so I'm staying in the moment day to day. That's what made our team good all year. There's no reason to change that now. At some point when it's all over, definitely we're all going to sit back and do that, but not right now." -- Jets captain Blake Wheeler

Need to know

Winnipeg lost its only other series since moving from Atlanta (2015 Western Conference First Round to the Anaheim Ducks), and one as the Thrashers (2007 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals to the New York Rangers). ... The original Jets (now the Arizona Coyotes) won two of 13 series when based in Winnipeg (1987 Smythe Division Semifnals against the Calgary Flames; 1985 Smythe Division Semifinals against Calgary). … Hellebuyck is the third United States-born goalie in NHL history to have consecutive shutouts in the playoffs, joining Mike Richter of the New York Rangers (Games 1-2 of 1994 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the New York Islanders) and Brent Johnson of the St. Louis Blues (Games 2-4 of 2002 Western Conference Quarterfinals against the Chicago Blackhawks). … Armia left after the first period because of an upper-body injury. … Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers (undisclosed) was a late scratch. ... Jets forward Matt Hendricks returned after missing 17 games because of a lower-body injury. … Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey did not play after being suspended one game for an illegal cross-check to the head of Wild forward Eric Staal in Game 4. … Wild forward Jason Zucker, who scored 33 goals in the regular season, did not score in the series.

What's next

Wild: Season over
Jets: Game 1 of Western Conference Second Round against the Nashville Predators or Colorado Avalanche, TBD