Laurent Brossoit made 24 saves for his third shutout of the season as the visiting Winnipeg Jets held off the Dallas Stars 3-0 on Thursday for their fifth consecutive victory.
The loss delayed the Stars’ attempt at capturing the Central Division.
A win by Dallas (50-21-9, 109 points) would have clinched the title. Instead, the Jets prevailed and moved ahead of the Avalanche for second in the Central. Both Winnipeg and Colorado are 49-24-6 for 104 points, but the Jets hold the regulation-wins tiebreaker.
Nikolaj Ehlers, David Gustafsson and Mark Scheifele were the goal-scorers for Winnipeg, while Mason Appleton provided two assists.
Jake Oettinger stopped 21 shots for Dallas, which had won 10 of its previous 11 games.
Ehlers got the Jets on the board first with 5:09 remaining in the first period. A shot from the point by Logan Stanley created some havoc around the net, leading to an attempted clear by the Stars that landed right with Ehlers. He slid the puck over the goal line for his 200th career goal.
Over the first period, both teams struggled to create any sustained offensive zone time as things remained relatively even with no club holding a clear advantage as the puck traveled up and down the ice repeatedly.
A tip-in by Gustafsson extended the Jets’ lead to 2-0 at 9:20 of the second period. A good cycle of the puck by Winnipeg after a series of shots culminated when Dylan Samberg’s attempt on the net was deflected in the slot by Gustafsson’s stick.
The Stars’ best chance of the game came amid a great shift in the last minute of the second period. Wyatt Johnston fired on net, creating a bouncing puck that cracked off the right post and rebounded underneath Brossoit in the crease.
In the final minutes of the third period with Dallas’ net empty, Connor was able to chip the puck up to Scheifele, who guided it into the cage to put the game out of reach at 17:39.
–Field Level Media
