WINNIPEG — Connor Hellebuyck made 29 saves for his fourth shutout of the season as the Winnipeg Jets extended their home winning streak to six games with a 1-0 victory over the Vancouver Canucks Sunday.
Patrik Laine scored his team-leading 21st goal of the season in the first period.
Hellebuyck picked up his 25th win for the Jets (28-13-7), who moved into first place in the NHL Central Division, one point ahead of idle Nashville.
Anders Nilsson stopped 35 shots for the Canucks (18-23-6), who had lost 5-2 to Edmonton the night before. It was Nilsson’s sixth straight loss.
Jets captain Blake Wheeler sent a backhand pass from behind the net out to Laine in front and he gave his team the lead at 11:45 of the first period.
Winnipeg had a 28-21 advantage in shots on goal after the second, with Nilsson turning aside a close shot from Mathieu Perreault in the final seconds.
Hellebuyck slid out of his net on his stomach to make a save on an approaching Markus Granlund early in the third, but the puck went off to the side and his teammates helped clear it.
The Jets had their second power play of the game midway through the third. Dustin Byfuglien rang a shot off the post and Kyle Connor had a quick shot stopped by Nilsson.
Hellebuyck got a cut around his right eye after being hit by an errant stick when teammate Josh Morrissey and Canucks forward Thomas Vanek got tangled up in the crease with under four minutes left in the game. A trainer came out to tend to the wound and then play continued.
Vancouver got its second power play of the game when Connor was called for hooking with 1:30 left, but didn’t get a shot on goal.
Canucks centre Bo Horvat was back on the ice after missing 18 games with a broken bone in his foot suffered on Dec. 5.
Winnipeg has a two-game road trip before the all-star break, starting Tuesday in San Jose and Thursday in Anaheim. The Canucks host Los Angeles and Buffalo on the same days.
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