Hellebuyck makes 21 saves, Jets shut out Utah Hockey Club for 4th straight win

WINNIPEG -- Connor Hellebuyck made 21 saves, and Nino Niederreiter scored two goals in his 900th NHL game for the Winnipeg Jets in a 3-0 win against the Utah Hockey Club at Canada Life Centre on Tuesday.

“The game wasn’t very pretty,” Niederreiter said. “There wasn’t a whole lot of flow out there. I think that is something that we knew and just had to stick with and do the little things right. Eventually we would create our own luck, and that’s what happened there.”

Gabriel Vilardi also scored for the Jets (12-1-0), who have won four straight since their loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Oct. 28. Adam Lowry had two assists. Kyle Connor’s season-opening point streak ended at a franchise-record 12 games (19 points; nine goals, 10 assists).

“It was a grind,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. “We had talked this morning about Utah, they were making it difficult on us in letting us get into the interior and letting us get second chances. But I like the way we kind of hung with it. … Our PK was really good against a dangerous looking group that they have.”

Karel Vejmelka made 25 saves for the Utah (5-5-3), which has lost six of seven (1-4-2).

“I feel bad for [Vejmelka], he was really good,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “We don't support him offensively. I feel really bad for him because he played really solid.”

Vilardi gave the Jets a 1-0 lead at 17:57 of the second period with a power-play goal, redirecting Josh Morrissey’s shot from the left point past Vejmelka.

“They capitalize on one of their power plays, and we didn’t,” Utah forward Lawson Crouse said. “We had a couple looks late in the game that would have been nice to go in. They're a big, strong team. A veteran team. They play sound hockey all over the ice.”

Niederreiter pushed it to 2-0 at 7:30 of the third period, taking Mason Appleton’s centering pass and deking Vejmelka to finish a 3-on-2 rush.

“Tonight we did a really good job of defending and coming back hard,” Morrissey said. “They’re a really skilled top six and they’ve got a lot of guys up there that can make the seam passes and lots of good plays off the rush. So I thought we did a good job defending our blue line, first off, and then not giving up too much in the middle of the ice.”

Niederreiter scored an empty-net goal at 17:01 for the 3-0 final.

“The best part about it right now is that we keep finding ways to win hockey games, and in all situations” Niederreiter said. “The power play steps up when it needs to. The PK has been great. We are finding the back of the net right now, which is great. It is something that we work very hard for it. We know we can’t take anything for granted.

NOTES: Connor’s season-opening point streak ended one game shy of the longest by a U.S.-born player in NHL history, a mark set by Kevin Stevens (14 goals, 19 assists in 13 games) with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1992-93. … Hellebuyck’s second shutout of the season is the 39th of his career, passing Tom Barrasso for the sixth-most by a U.S.-born goaltender in NHL history. The only others with more are Jonathan Quick (60), Ryan Miller (44), Craig Anderson (43), Frank Brimsek (40), and John Vanbiesbrouck (40).