It wasn’t a pretty game but it will be one that Connor Hellebuyck will never forget.
The reigning Vezina winner made 26 saves to pick up his 300th career victory as the Winnipeg Jets downed the Nashville Predators 5-2 Tuesday night, becoming the third-fastest goalie to reach that milestone, doing it in 538 games.
After Nashville got a flurry of shots on goal in the first few minutes, the Jets got on the board first thanks to their fourth line.
Rasmus Kupari attempted to jam home a wraparound, setting off a scramble at the side of the net. Morgan Barron squeezed the puck through Juuse Saros and into the crease before Nick Blankenburg accidentally nudged it over the goal line at the 6:30 mark of the first.
They had barely stopped playing Barron’s goal song before the horn sounded again for another Jets goal, this one off the stick of Josh Morrissey. Just 16 seconds after Barron’s opener, Morrissey walked in from the left point and wired a perfect slapshot top-corner to make it 2-0 Winnipeg.
The Jets weren’t done there. With 1:24 to go in the first, Kyle Connor got loose in the slot, took a feed from Mark Scheifele and wired it through Saros to make it 3-0 after 20 minutes. Ville Heinola picked up an assist on Connor’s goal for his first NHL point since Jan. 3, 2023.
Winnipeg outshot the Predators 11-10 in the opening 20 minutes despite Nashville having the game’s only power play to that point.
The Predators got two more power play chances late in the second and that helped them get on the board with 3:15 left.
With Neal Pionk in the box for delay of game, Logan Stanley failed to clear the puck after a faceoff win, giving Nashville the chance to cycle the puck before Filip Forsberg ripped a shot high over the shoulder of Hellebuyck to make it 3-1.
Of concern for the Jets in the second, Morrissey left the game after sliding awkwardly into the post of his own net. He went to the locker room, returned very briefly before immediately returning to the room for the rest of the night, leaving Winnipeg with five blueliners to finish the game for the second straight contest after Colin Miller had to leave Saturday’s loss to Detroit early with a fractured larynx.
Winnipeg finally got a power play look in the third and made quick work of it. Scheifele found Nikolaj Ehlers at the left faceoff dot, who slap-passed it in front to Gabriel Vilardi, who steered it past Saros to make it 4-1 at the 7:51 mark of the third.
From there, the Jets held on for dear life. Roman Josi cut the lead to two when his point shot redirected off the skate of Stanley and in at the 9:25 mark.
Just over a minute later, Stanley was sent off for a high-sticking double minor, followed shortly thereafter by a soft hooking call on Connor. The Jets managed to kill it off thanks to some hard work by Pionk and Dylan DeMelo and great goaltending from Hellebuyck, earning them a loud ovation once the kill was over.
With 2:50 to go, the Predators pulled Saros for an extra attacker but Nino Niederreiter scored into the empty net with a long-range lob with 2:05 to seal the win.
The Jets will have a couple days to heal up before hosting the Kings on Friday.