Hellebuyck makes 35 saves for Jets in win against Red Wings

DETROIT -- Connor Hellebuyck made 35 saves, including 19 in the third period, for the Winnipeg Jets in a 4-1 win against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday.

“[Hellebuyck] has really been going the last couple games, and this is like a home game for him,” Jets associate coach Scott Arniel said. “He looked rock solid out there and he made the stops when we needed them, certainly in the last 10 minutes.”

Hellebuyck grew up in Commerce Township, Michigan, about 30 miles northwest of Detroit.

“We know we’re going to get 100 percent from him in every game,” Winnipeg forward Nikolaj Ehlers said. "It was pretty awesome to see him play like that in front of his friends and family.”

Ehlers and Kyle Connor scored 1:02 apart in the first period, and Mason Appleton and Nino Niederreiter each had a goal and an assist for the Jets (4-3-0), who have won three in a row after losing three of their first four.

“This is huge, because you know how we started the season and we were just staring at our record like, ‘Dang, I can’t believe this is where we are,’” Appleton said. “You overanalyze early in the season, and maybe we did that, but now we’re heating up.”

Lucas Raymond scored for the Red Wings (5-2-1), who have lost their past two (0-1-1) after a five-game winning streak. James Reimer made 25 saves.

“I don’t think our process was off tonight; we probably didn’t have enough energy,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. “We had some pushes, but it wasn’t a steady push all the time.

“Hellebuyck was probably the No. 1 difference in the game, and our goalie was pretty good.”

Dylan Larkin had an assist to extend his point streak to eight games, the longest by a Red Wings player since Henrik Zetterberg’s franchise-record 17-game run to start the 2007-08 season.

“He could have easily had three or four points again tonight,” Lalonde said. “He’s playing with pace, and he had looks. It just didn’t go in.”

Ehlers gave Winnipeg a 1-0 lead at 16:28 of the first, scoring on a wrist shot from the slot for his first goal of the season. He is a six-time 20-goal scorer in the NHL.

“I remember my first year, I went about 10 games without anything, and then I got an empty-net goal down in San Jose,” Ehlers said. “Everything calmed down after that. It doesn’t matter how they go in, it really doesn’t. We’ll be good now.”

Connor made it 2-0 at 17:30, putting in a loose puck from the slot.

Raymond cut it to 2-1 at 3:18 of the second period on a rebound of Larkin’s shot.

Appleton redirected Adam Lowry’s pass to make it 3-1 at 10:26 of the third.

“They really jumped on us in the second and third, but we defended hard and weathered the storm,” Appleton said. “I think the [third] goal took the wind out of their sails a bit.”

Niederreiter scored an empty-net goal at 18:58 for the 4-1 final. It was his first goal of the season.

NOTES: Center Mark Scheifele’s point streak ended at six games, two shy of Blake Wheeler’s Jets/Atlanta Thrashers record to start a season. … Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider had an assist, his 100th NHL point.