Connor Hellebuyck stopped all 31 shots he faced for his 37th career shutout as the Winnipeg Jets blanked the Colorado Avalanche 7-0 at Ball Arena today. Sean Monahan (2G, 1A) and Josh Morrissey (1G, 2A) recorded three points, Adam Lowry scored twice and David Gustafsson (2A), Nikolaj Ehlers (2A) and Kyle Connor (2A) also had multiple points for Winnipeg who swept their four-game road trip through the Central Division. The Jets (50-24-6) reached 50 wins for the second time since the franchise moved to Manitoba. Winnipeg closes out the regular season with two contests, Tuesday against Seattle and Thursday vs. Vancouver.
DOMINANT FIRST
There was a lot to be proud of after the first period in Dallas on Thursday night if you were Rick Bowness and the coaching staff. As impressive as that performance was, the first period in Denver today was at another level. Winnipeg scored four times in the first period with Sean Monahan (at 5:59) and Gabriel Vilardi (PPG at 8:02) scoring 2:03 apart to make it 2-0. Then Josh Morrissey (PPG at 15:07) and Adam Lowry (at 15:17) scored 10 seconds apart, the two fastest goals since the franchise moved to Winnipeg. Avs coach Jared Bednar pulled starting goaltender Alexander Georgiev at that point as he gave up four goals on 15 shots. The Jets ended up outshooting the Avs 15-5.
“I thought it was great, drew a couple of penalties, got pucks to the net, did everything right really,” said Neal Pionk.
“Kept it to the outside, stayed disciplined. So, it was a good start for us, especially in this building.”
MAGIC OF MORRISSEY AND MONAHAN
In big games like today, you need to see big performances from your top players. Josh Morrissey delivered with a goal and a couple helpers against the Avalanche. Morrissey scored 10 goals in a season for the third straight campaign – only one defenseman in Jets/Thrashers history has posted a run of that length: Dustin Byfuglien (4 seasons from 2013-14 – 2016-17). Meanwhile, Monahan scored a couple of goals and now has 13 goals since being traded to Winnipeg on February 6, second to Kyle Connor’s 14 in that time span.
RACE FOR SECOND
Dallas beat Seattle on Saturday to clinch the Central Division title and that locked in the Jets and Avalanche as first round opponents. The only thing left to decide over the final two games of the regular season is who will have home ice advantage. Winnipeg has 106 points and 44 regulation wins; Colorado has 104 points, and 41 regulations wins. Colorado travels to Vegas tomorrow and closes out the regular season at home against Edmonton. The Jets will host Seattle Tuesday and Vancouver on Thursday.
“Yeah, that’s in our control now. Give our guys credit, they’ve worked hard all year. We ended up with 25 road wins, so we’ve been really consistent on the road,” said Rick Bowness.
“Give our guys credit, they’ve battled hard all year to put us in a position to take advantage of home ice."
