Hellebuyck gets 2nd straight shutout, Jets top Avalanche for 13th win in 14 games

WINNIPEG -- Connor Hellebuyck made 35 saves for his second straight shutout, and the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Colorado Avalanche 1-0 at Canada Life Centre on Thursday.

“I thought the guys played really hard in front of me,” Hellebuyck said. “They let me see pucks, cleared rebounds, scored. We really committed to our game in our defensive zone. It might not have been pretty but that’s why every game is a team effort.”

Winnipeg (13-1-0) is the second team in NHL history to earn 13 wins through its first 14 games in a season, joining the 2007-08 Senators (13-1-0).

“For him to come out and to play like he played, really frustrating them, he made some great stops and some fantastic stops,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. “I really liked our start, but it was one of those games where we just let it go. We kind of handed it back to them, more than anything.”

“We didn’t give up at all. We battled right to the end,” Hellebuyck said. “Like I said, they were cleaning up, they weren’t giving up any rebounds, they were boxing out, puck was hitting me. We had a perfect combination for a game like that.”

Gabriel Vilardi scored for the Jets, who have won five straight since suffering their only loss of the season on Oct. 28 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“There's no sugar coating, it wasn't our best game,” Vilardi said. “I mean, [Hellebuyck] won that game for us. It's that simple. I think we had a good first period, and then after that we kind of lost it somewhere in the middle of the second. It’s just, we got the best goalie in the world. But we can't play like that and expect to win very many games.”

Alexandar Georgiev made 27 saves for the Avalanche (6-8-0), who have lost four of five (1-4-0). Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar each had their season-opening 13-game point streak snapped.

“We had a chance to win,” Georgiev said. “The other goalie played awesome. That happens sometimes. I feel if we keep playing like that it's going to be a lot of good results.”

Hellebuyck, who leads the NHL with three shutouts this season, made 21 saves in a 3-0 win against the Utah Hockey Club on Tuesday.

"Both goalies played great, they really did,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “But I think both teams played great. They played hard, both teams. So, it's a matter of one mistake here or there that costs us the game tonight. They earned that victory, but it was a disciplined hockey game. There wasn't many power plays or penalty kills. It was 5-on-5, and you could see how hard both teams were working.

“So, yeah, I think it's too simple to say it was goaltending because they're just another one of the 20 that played their butts off tonight.”

NOTES: Hellebuyck has 40 career shutouts and became the fifth goalie in franchise history to record back-to-back shutouts. … Vilardi has eight points (five goals, three assists) over a six-game point streak, which is the longest of his career. … Mark Scheifele has eight points (two goals, six assists) over a six-game point streak. … MacKinnon and Makar each had their 13-game season-opening point streak end. MacKinnon became the second player in NHL history with multiple season-opening point streaks of at least 13 games (13 games in 2019-20), joining Wayne Gretzky. … MacKinnon and Makar became the third set of teammates in NHL history with simultaneous season-opening point streaks of at least 13 games, joining Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito (15 games with the Bruins in 1973-74), and Dmitri Kvartalnov and Joe Juneau (14 games with the Bruins in 1992-93).