Hellebuyck and Iafallo lead Winnipeg Jets to 4-1 win in Minnesota – Winnipeg

Sometimes you need your goalkeeper to get you out of trouble. It's a good thing the Winnipeg Jets have the best goalie in the NHL.

Connor Hellebuyck stopped 43 of 44 shots as the Jets earned a 4-1 victory at Minnesota on Monday night and improved to 18-4 on the season.

The Jets weathered an early storm from the Wild and Hellebuyck was brilliant in making 38 saves through the first two periods in a showdown between the top two teams in the NHL overall.

Alex Iafallo scored twice for Winnipeg. Nino Niederreiter scored a second-period goal and Adam Lowry sealed the deal with an empty-netter, but it was Vezina-caliber goaltending that led to the two points for Winnipeg as they bounced back from Saturday's loss to Nashville.

“We were feeling out our game a little bit and maybe made a few mistakes and didn't get the puck deep enough,” Hellebuyck said. “We corrected our mistake in that third period and we were just phenomenal in the third period. We immediately got back into our game.”

It was only the fourth regular season loss for Minnesota this season.

They outscored the Jets 22-7 in the first period and the 39 shots surrendered by the Jets in the first two periods are the most in franchise history.

“Obviously we need to work on some things,” Iafallo said. “But for the future it is a big victory for us, especially on the road. Closing out that third period is huge for us and building that momentum of playing hard and hanging in there until the end.”

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Despite the wide margin in shots on goal, Jets head coach Scott Arniel felt it wasn't as lopsided as the shots reflected.

“I think the guy who was shot fell asleep on the button,” Arniel joked. “The first period it felt more like an emotional feeling. They probably had the upper hand. I thought we got going in the second where we weren't very good in Nashville in the second. I thought we were better at being heavy. They were going to get some looks, but I thought we did a good job every time we got the puck under the goal line, our offense got going and we got some zone time.

Ville Heinola appeared in his first NHL game in more than 22 months after Dylan Samberg suffered a broken foot while blocking a shot in the Jets' previous outing.

“There were a lot of things I liked,” Arniel said. “He has patience and poise, we know that, especially on the breakouts, things like that. I think there are a few things that he kind of realized was a rush because of the speed. But ultimately that's what we want. We want to get his feet wet.”

Just like when the two teams met in Winnipeg last month, Jake Middleton opened the scoring for the Wild, netting a rebound at 8:37 of the opening period.

The Jets answered less than 90 seconds later thanks to their fourth line. Rasmus Kupari won a puck battle in the corner and fed Iafallo in front, who buried a hard backhand past Filip Gustavsson at 10:03.

Minnesota had the bulk of its good chances as the period progressed, but Hellebuyck held firm, knocking down 19 of 20 shots as the Jets put nine on goal in the first.

The Wild continued to fire on Hellebuyck in the second, but it was Winnipeg who took the lead at the 12:05 mark of the middle frame.

After Hellebuyck spurned another great Minnesota opportunity, the Jets broke the ice 4-on-3 when two members of the Wild got stuck with Iafallo behind the Jets' net. Ultimately, the puck ended up on Neal Pionk's stick before he slid a perfect pass to Niederreiter, who fired a backhand past Gustavsson to put the Jets up 2-1.

Winnipeg certainly had more life in the second period, especially after they scored, but they were still outshot 17-13 for a two-period total of 39-20 in favor of Minnesota.

But in the third, the Jets pressured the Wild, allowing just two shots in the opening 14 minutes before Winnipeg grabbed an insurance marker on the power play.

With the second unit on the ice, Iafallo tapped a Pionk point shot that Gustavsson caught a chunk of, but not enough as it fell into the net to give Winnipeg a 3-1 lead. The goal was the 100th of Iafallo's career.

Minnesota pulled the goalie with just under three minutes left, but couldn't muster much before Lowry scored an empty net goal with just over a minute to play.

Winnipeg will now head further west to visit the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night. Pregame coverage on 680 CJOB begins at 7 p.m., with puck drop just after 9 p.m.

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