‘Slumping’ Jets beat Sabres
Goalie Connor Hellebuyck initially took exception to the suggestion of the Jets being in a slump before being reminded their 0-2-1 skid had been Winnipeg’s longest of the season.
“Yeah, that’s a good point,” Hellebuyck said. “I don’t know if I’d use that term (slump). Let’s keep the fans happy and excited about this one, and excited about where we’re going.”
Hellebuyck made 35 saves and Blake Wheeler scored the go-ahead goal with 3:55 left in turning the Jets back in the right direction with an efficient 3-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday.
Winnipeg avoided dropping four straight for the first time since going 03-1 in March 2017, and upped its lead atop the Central Division standings. At 35-18-3, Winnipeg earned its 73rd point to move two ahead of Nashville after the Predators’ 5-4 overtime loss to St. Louis earlier in the day.
Winnipeg cleaned up its defence following a pair of 5-2 road losses at Ottawa on Saturday and Montreal in a game Thursday night in which the Canadiens outshot Winnipeg 53-34.
“It was the first time all year we’ve had to deal with that adversity,” said Wheeler, who scored his team-leading 28th goal and added an assist.
“It was something we obviously talked about before the game that this was something we haven’t gone through yet. I think there’s a lot we can be proud of with how we played.”
Defenceman Josh Morrissey set up the decisive goal by driving up the boards from the left point and slipping a pass through the middle and under Sabres defenceman Rasmus Dahlin. Wheeler was left alone at the right post, where he deposited the pass into the open side.
Andrew Copp also scored and Mark Scheifele sealed the win by scoring into an open net in the final seconds.
Jack Eichel scored and Carter Hutton had 26 saves for Buffalo. Coming off a 3-1 victory over Detroit on Saturday, the Sabres failed to win consecutive games for the first time since Dec. 11-13.
Buffalo (27-21-7) dropped to 2-2-1 with two games left on a seven-game homestand.
The Sabres also squandered an opportunity to gain ground in the race for the Eastern Conference final playoff spot. Buffalo remains 10th, two points behind Pittsburgh and a point behind Carolina.
“Other teams are getting points and moving up the standings and we’re not,” Eichel said in discounting how well the Sabres played in a game they lost. “I think the moral victories are a thing of the past at this point. We didn’t get any points, and they win the game.”