It's been a long time coming, but it was also just a matter of time for Connor Hellebuyck. He and his Winnipeg Jets teammates dominated the visiting Ottawa Senators to the score of 5-0 to give Hellebuyck his first well-deserved shutout of the season. He made 21 saves.
The Jets peppered the Senators net so much, starter Mike Condon was chased out after 22 shots against, allowing all five Winnipeg goals; relief netminder Craig Anderson faced another 27. That's 49 shots thrust upon the opponent's net. And seemingly at will.
The Jets return to first in the Central division and Western conference. It also put them back into a tie for first overall in the NHL, with the Tampa Bay Lightning, but more than that, it may cement some respect from the hockey media that have scoffed at the Jets for years. It may be only December 3rd, but the Jets are flying high, with no sight of their high-octane offense diminishing any time soon.
Mark Scheifele opened the scoring on the power-play with his team-leading 14th of the season. Blake Wheeler got his 26th assist of the season on the play and is really close to the franchise's all-time lead in that category.
Matheau Perreault, just moved to the top line with Scheifele and Wheeler, due to the injury of Kyle Connor, scored his seventh on an assist from Jacob Trouba and another by Wheeler.
In the third, Wheeler scored his seventh on a nice feed from Scheifele from behind the net.
Patrik Laine scored his 13th, in his 100th NHL game, on a five-on-three power-play on an assist from Wheeler; the Jets captain's fourth point of the game. This was Wheeler's third four-point game of the season thus far.
Thirty seconds later, Tyler Myers scored his 5th in his 500th NHL game. Bryan Little and Perreault had the helpers on this one, giving Perreault two points on the night.
Right from the drop, this one didn't even seem all that fair. The Jets out-skated, out-shot, out-blocked, outhit and out-classed the Senators. It should have been more of a blowout, as it really was a clinic. Sens goaltender, Craig Anderson, in relief of the banished Condon, should get some kudos for keeping it as it was.
