Two goals from Adam Lowry powered the Winnipeg Jets to a 4-0 victory over the host Vancouver Canucks on Monday.
Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck stopped all 22 shots he faced to collect his first shutout of the season.
Blake Wheeler opened the scoring for Winnipeg (19-11-2) midway through the first period and Paul Stastny closed the game with a goal late in the third. Thatcher Demko stopped 24-of-29 shots for the Canucks (16-17-3).
Vancouver was without a key piece for much of the third. Captain Bo Horvat hobbled to the dressing room in obvious pain after taking a slap shoot to the foot midway through the period and did not return to the game.
Monday’s result snapped a two-game losing skid for the Jets, who suffered their only back-to-back losses of the season to the Edmonton Oilers last week.
Stastny sealed the win with a snipe from the top of the fac-eoff circle that sailed past Demko with three minutes left on the clock.
Lowry buried his second of the night 8:42 into the final frame. Demko stopped a shot from Andrew Copp but couldn’t control the rebound and the puck landed on Lowry’s stick. He quickly popped it into the yawning net to give the Jets a 3-0 lead. Lowry had given the Jets some breathing room earlier in the third with a shot from the face-off dot that hit Canucks defenceman Travis Hamonic in the shoulder and ricocheted into the Vancouver net, putting Winnipeg up 2-0.
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A turnover in the Jets end led to Winnipeg’s first goal of the night. Wheeler picked the puck off Canucks defenceman Alex Edler and streaked down the ice on a 2-on-1 breakaway with Stastny.
Vancouver’s Nate Schmidt dropped to the ice in front of the crease in an attempt to stop a pass but Wheeler kept the puck and slipped a shot through Demko’s legs to give the Jets a 1-0 lead 9:41 into the opening frame.
Winnipeg nearly doubled the lead on a similar play before the first intermission.
Again, Wheeler and Stastny got a 2-on-1, but this time when Wheeler went for a shot from the side of the net, Demko got a pad out for the save and collapsed on the loose puck, smothering any potential second chances.
The Jets dominated play through much of the second, allowing the Canucks just six shots on goal.
Vancouver’s best chance of the period came as Zack MacEwen was sprung from the penalty box after serving time for a holding cal.
The big Canucks forward picked up the puck in the neutral zone and darted into Winnipeg territory, waited out a diving Neal Pionk in tight and got a solid shot off, only to see Hellebuyck make the stop.
MacEwen’s frustration was evident as he returned to the bench.
Monday marked Hellebuyck’s 21st career shutout. His last came on March 6, 2020 when the Jets downed the Vegas Golden Knights 4-0.
The Jets and Canucks will meet again in Vancouver on Wednesday.
NOTES: Both teams were 0 for 1 on the power play. … Canucks centre Brandon Sutter missed the game with an undisclosed injury. He was replaced in the lineup by Tyler Graovac. … Earlier on Monday, Vancouver claimed centre Travis Boyd off waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press
