Connor Hellebuyck stopped 25 shots for his fifth shutout of the season as the Winnipeg Jets beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-0 on Saturday night.
Patrik Laine scored his team-leading 24th goal, rookie Jack Roslovic was credited with his second and Nikolaj Ehlers added an empty-netter for the Jets, who improved to 5-0-2 in their last seven. Blake Wheeler had two assists.
Semyon Varlamov had 29 saves for Colorado in his return after missing 10 games with an injury and then backing up Jonathan Bernier in the overtime win at Edmonton on Thursday night.
Winnipeg led 1-0 after the first period and kept that edge until Wheeler's shot bounced off Roslovic and went up and over Varlamov into the net at 5:17 of the third.
With forward Mikko Rantanen in the penalty box for tripping, Laine scored 2:27 into the opening period on a play that's become familiar to Winnipeg fans. Wheeler threaded a pass through defenders across the front of the net to Laine on the left and he quickly fired in his 13th power-play marker past Varlamov on his blocker side.
Rantanen later rang a shot off the post as the Avalanche had a 10-6 advantage in shots after the first. The scoreless second period featured good chances, and bad luck, by both teams. The Jets had three shots hit the post, while the Avalanche had a 2-man break while short-handed when Matt Nieto and Gabriel Bourque went in alone on Hellebuyck, but Bourque's high shot missed the net.
The Avalanche had a power play with 4:43 left in the third when Jets center Bryan Little was called for hooking, but Hellebuyck made a couple of stops from close in and Ehlers scored into the empty net with 18 seconds left to preserve the win.
NOTES: Winnipeg lost veteran forward Matt Hendricks to an upper-body injury early in the opening period. ... The Avalanche wrapped up a season-high, six-game road trip at 2-3-1.
UP NEXT
Avalanche: Host San Jose on Tuesday night.
Jets: Host Arizona on Tuesday night.
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