Connor Hellebuyck made 23 saves for his fourth shutout of the season as the Winnipeg Jets beat the visiting Washington Capitals 3-0 on Monday night.
Neal Pionk, Alex Iafallo and Kyle Connor scored for the Jets, who had lost two of three and were beginning a three-game homestand. Hellebuyck logged his 36th career shutout.
Charlie Lindgren made 26 saves for the Capitals, who had scored 10 total goals while winning their past two games. Washington was opening a five-games-in-eight-days road trip.
Washington forward T.J. Oshie played 16:06 and had a minus-2 rating in his return after missing seven games with an upper-body injury.
The Jets, who were shut out 5-0 by the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday in what coach Rick Bowness called their worst loss in the past two years, started fast and outshot Washington 12-5 in the first period.
Pionk gave the Jets a 1-0 lead at 10:05 of the first. After a scrum along the left boards, Mason Appleton came away with the puck and passed across the ice to Pionk, who skated in on Lindgren and scored with a wrist shot from the bottom of the right circle.
The lead increased to 2-0 at 8:16 of the second period when Josh Morrissey’s shot from the high slot was deflected in by Iafallo among a crowd in front.
Shortly after Washington failed to cash in on the game’s first power play, Winnipeg increased the lead to 3-0 at the midpoint of the third period. Connor scored his 27th goal of the season off a pass from Mark Scheifele on a two-on-one rush.
Forward Tyler Toffoli and defenseman Colin Miller — acquired in trades with the New Jersey Devils on Friday — made their Winnipeg debuts. Toffoli played 15:15 and was plus-2, while Miller played 13:48 and had three hits.
–Field Level Media
