WINNIPEG, Manitoba _ Scoring hasn't been a problem for the Islanders this season. But on Friday they ran into Connor Hellebuyck, who stopped just about everything the Isles threw at him in a 4-2 Jets win.
Hellebuyck made 42 saves to stymie the Isles, many of those stops were of the eye-popping variety.
"We peppered 'em. (Hellebuyck) was good tonight, I thought both goalies were good," said Islanders coach Doug Weight. "We had some point-blank chances where we got good wood on the shots and he made some five-star saves at key times for them. When you get close to 50 shots you can't complain too much."
The Jets goaltender had 37 saves through 40 minutes as Winnipeg held a 2-1 lead entering the third. The Jets got the lead back to two goals when Kyle Connor's soft shot banked off Dennis Seidenberg's skate and through Jaroslav Halak's legs at 3:01.
Blake Wheeler had a skate in the blue paint of the crease and Weight took a long look at the replay but decided not to challenge. The Isles didn't record a shot on goal in the third until the 9:40 mark, when Hellebuyck robbed Andrew Ladd from in close during an Islanders power play.
The Jets salted it away at 12:03 of the third when Adam Lowry tipped Jacob Trouba's point shot past Halak on the power play. The regulation loss marked the first time the Isles haven't gotten a point here since the Jets rejoined the NHL. Anders Lee scored his second of the night and 24th of the season with 3:32 left.
Hellebuyck's magic began in the game's first minute as he stretched his right pad to stop Ladd's try on a two on one. Jordan Eberle was denied seconds later from prime scoring territory, where the Islanders had a bushel of chances in the first two periods.
They recorded 19 shots on Hellebuyck in each of the first two periods but only had one get past the Jets goaltender. John Tavares won a draw in the Winnipeg zone and sat back into shooting position as Josh Bailey retrieved the puck. Tavares whistled one that ticked off Lee's leg and under the crossbar.
That goal at 14:46 of the second brought the Islanders within a goal, but they got no closer.
The Isles fell into an early hole after being denied on those two good chances and seeing the Jets convert soon after. Shawn Matthias, a Winnipeg healthy scratch 20 of the previous 21 games, worked the puck off Brock Nelson and drove the net to chip a rebound past Halak at 2:32 of the first.
The Islanders pressed well the remainder of the period but a couple of breakdowns gave the Jets a 2-0 lead. Steve Bernier could not reach a puck as it neared the Winnipeg line and the Jets turned the play back quickly, catching Ryan Pulock drifting up towards the play.
The Jets blew past him for a three on one and Connor fed Wheeler for a tap-in at 16:57.
Despite pumping so many shots on goal, the Isles didn't get much from their third line. Shane Prince, Nelson and Bernier struggled at times and could not sustain the sort of the pressure and chances generated by the top two lines as well as the fourth line.
"If we do what we did tonight, we're going to win a lot more games than we lose," Lee said. "Their goalie was good and you tip your cap to him."
In Isles' first game without Johnny Boychuk, the third pair of Thomas Hickey and Seidenberg also struggled to contain the Jets' big, physical forwards.
The Isles headed off to Denver after the game for a New Year's Eve game against the Avalanche with only a one-point edge on the Hurricanes for the last playoff spot in the East.
