Hellebuyck makes 42 saves in Jets win against Islanders

WINNIPEG --Connor Hellebuyck made 42 saves to help the Winnipeg Jets to a 4-2 win against the New York Islanders at Bell MTS Place on Friday.
Adam Lowry, Blake Wheeler and Kyle Connor each had a goal and an assist, and Shawn Matthias also scored for the Jets (22-11-6), who were playing their first game without center Mark Scheifele, who will be out 6-8 weeks with an upper-body injury.

WATCH: [All Islanders vs. Jets highlights]
"We did a good job," Wheeler said. "Unfortunately [Scheifele] is not coming back anytime soon, so we've got to rely on the guys in the room. Everyone takes responsibility in that, everyone has got to step their game up a little bit. Do a little bit more, do a little bit better. So far, so good."
Winnipeg moved into first place in the Central Division, one point ahead of the Nashville Predators.
The Jets have 50 points in 39 games, the fastest since relocating to Winnipeg from Atlanta in 2011. They reached the 50-point mark in 43 games in 2014-15.
Anders Lee scored two goals for the Islanders (20-14-4), who had won two in a row. Jaroslav Halak made 33 saves.

"We're going to try not to be too frustrated but obviously we would have loved to have capitalized on some of those opportunities in all three periods," Islanders forward John Tavares said. "We generated most of them in the first two periods. Unfortunately, we didn't put in as many as we'd like and didn't have as strong a third."
Matthias ended a 21-game goalless drought with his first of the season at 2:32 of the first period to make it 1-0. Matthias had been a healthy scratch for 20 of the past 21 games.

Winnipeg's revamped top line in the absence of Scheifele combined to make it 2-0 after Connor's cross-ice pass found Wheeler for the tap-in at 16:57.
Lee made it 2-1 at 14:46 of the second period. Tavares and Josh Bailey each had an assist to extend point streaks, Tavares to nine and Bailey to 10.
"We knew we were going to see them come out hard and then respond to the way the game went a few days ago," Tavares said of New York's 5-2 win on Saturday. "The parity is so good, you can't take a team for granted."
Connor made it 3-1 with his 12th of the season at 3:01 of the third period.
"I think a lot of guys stepped up and are going to need to [continue]," Connor said. "[Scheifele's] obviously a huge part of what we do here, so I think all around the team we have to step up and elevate our game."
Lowry scored on the power play at 12:03 to make it 4-1. Lee made it 4-2 at 16:28 with his 24th of the season.

Goal of the game

Connor's goal at 3:01 of the third period.

Save of the game

Hellebuyck's save on Andrew Ladd at 9:36 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Hellebuyck's save on Ladd 59 seconds into the first period.

#

They said it

"We peppered them. [Hellebuyck] was good tonight in net, I tell you. I think both goalies were good tonight. We had some point-blank chances where we got a lot of wood on the puck. He was incredible. … They're a tough team to play here, obviously a good team, not just [the] goalie but tonight he was by far their best player. They capitalized on the chances when they had them." -- Islanders coach Doug Weight
"We just recently played them. That's kind of playoff hockey right there. You lose to a team, you want to come right back and show them that you didn't beat us, you got lucky." -- Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck

Need to know

Jets forward Brandon Tanev left in the first period with a lower-body injury. He will be reassessed on Saturday. … Islanders forward Mathew Barzal had his five-game point streak end.

What's next

Islanders: Host the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday (8 p.m. ET; ALT, MSG+, NHL.TV)
Jets:At the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday (7 p.m. ET; SN, NHL.TV)