Hellebuyck gets 300th NHL win, Jets defeat Predators to end 3-game skid

WINNIPEG -- Connor Hellebuyck made 26 saves for his 300th NHL win, and the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Nashville Predators 5-2 at Canada Life Centre on Tuesday.

“It feels good. The anticipation was killing me a little bit,” said Hellebuyck, who lost his previous two starts (0-1-1). “That’s not how I played it out this week, but the guys played so hard in front of me and the crowd was incredible tonight. That’s a very memorable one.”

Hellebuyck became the fastest U.S.-born goaltender in NHL history to reach the milestone (538 games), and the League’s third-fastest overall, behind Andrei Vasilevskiy (490 games) and Jacques Plante (521 games).

“You know, for the longest time I was just playing, taking it day by day, having fun, working hard and trying to get better,” Hellebuyck said. “As you get a little older in this League and things start to happen and you start to achieve some things, that kind of sets in and you start to realize that you’re doing some great things. I’ve been grateful to be part of this great organization and have had a lot of these guys around me the entire time. It’s been a good team the entire time I’ve been here, so I’m very grateful for everything that’s been going on around me. I know it’s not just me, it’s a whole team and a whole organization that helps.”

Morgan Barron, Josh Morrissey, Kyle Connor, and Gabriel Vilardi scored for the Jets (28-12-2), who had lost three straight (0-2-1). Mark Scheifele had two assists.

"The biggest thing for me is that he [Hellebuyck] signed that eight-year deal last summer,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. “That just proved that he loves being here. He loves a lot of what Winnipeg brings, what Manitoba brings, especially the outdoors stuff. His love for the fans is based on how they cheer his name and how they give him standing ovations. He loves to show it back like that. For him, he's earned it all. Three hundred is a heck of a milestone. You got to tip your hat to greatness that way. You always love to see it when guys want to be here and how the fans reciprocate that back."

Roman Josi had a goal and an assist, and Filip Forsberg also scored for the Predators (13-21-7), who had won two straight. Juuse Saros made 25 saves.

“[Hellebuyck’s] been great,” Forsberg said. “He’s been probably their best player since he came into this League. They have a good system in front of him, too. It makes it somewhat easy -- I wouldn’t call it easy, he’s obviously made some great saves -- but I think the combination of those two obviously is a winning factor for these guys. He keeps showing up.”

Winnipeg scored twice in a span of 16 seconds early in the first period.

“To give up the first one kind of stung us a bit,” Nashville coach Andrew Brunette said. “To give up one 16 seconds later, which is never a recipe for success, and (we) let it go a little bit. You know, we battled back. We were resilient and tried. Their goalie was really good and we weren’t able to get one through.”

Barron made it 1-0 at 6:30, jamming the puck under Saros. Morrissey followed that with a slap shot from the top of the left circle that went off the post and in to make it 2-0 at 6:46.

“[Rasmus Kupari] made a really good play, obviously, a ton of patience,” Barron said. “Then it was a scramble there, and somewhere or other it ended up in the back of the net. Those are the hard areas to go to and it worked out for us.”

Connor pushed it to 3-0 when Scheifele found him for a quick shot in the high slot at 18:36.

Forsberg cut it to 3-1 with a power-play goal at 16:45 of the second, scoring with a wrist shot from the top of the right circle.

“I think there's little stretches there where we got a little bit, I guess, sloppy with the puck,” Brunette said. “We were a little bit slow to move it. We probably left plays out there. That's always frustrating when you're on the power play, watching the power play, when that happens. But it's been that kind of stretch for us.”

Vilardi scored nine seconds into Winnipeg’s only power play to make it 4-1 at 7:51 of the third. Nikolaj Ehlers took Scheifele’s pass from behind the net and one-touched it from the left face-off dot to the edge of the crease for Vilardi to tap in.

“They get two quick goals and then another one, and you feel like you had a decent first and you can’t do nothing,” Josi said. “But we stuck with it, won the second (period), and even in third we were kind of right there. Our power play has just got to find a way to score on that 5-on-3 and make it a one goal game.”

Josi scored with a slap shot from the point that deflected in off the leg of Jets defenseman Logan Stanley to make it 4-2 at 9:25.

“I think you always look at yourselves when you go 1-for-7 and especially a 5-on-3 late in the game, which is a huge opportunity just to get one and make it a tighter game,” Josi said. “I think as a power play, when you go 1-for-7 you always look at yourself and how to make some plays and capitalize.”

Winnipeg went 6-for-7 on the penalty kill, including for 1:26 at 5-on-3 in the third period.

“That's just a gritty, character room right there,” Hellebuyck said. “Our PK was fantastic tonight. [Nashville] got buzzing a little bit, but it felt like we kept them to the outside and allowed my sightlines and blocked some really big shots. And the few shots they got I was able to get in front of. It took everyone tonight, that's for sure.”

Nino Niederreiter scored into an empty net at 17:55 for the 5-2 final.

Morrissey left the game early in the second period after crashing into the Winnipeg goal post. He returned for one shift late in the period before heading to the locker room.

“We needed everyone, and they were great,” Hellebuyck said of playing the majority of the game without Morrissey available. “They were fantastic. It's never easy... going in and having to jump around between lines and linemates. You never like seeing anyone get hurt. Let's hope he has as speedy recovery and back in the next one.

Predators forward Steven Stamkos left early in the second period and did not return. Forward Luke Evangelista also left in the first period due to a lower-body injury, returned briefly in the second, but did not come out for the third period.

NOTES: Arniel says Morrissey will be reassessed on Wednesday for a lower-body injury. … Brunette had no postgame update on either Stamkos or Evangelista. … Hellebuyck became the seventh U.S.-born goaltender to record 300 NHL wins, and the second active (Jonathan Quick: 399). … Connor’s goal is his 23rd of the season, which is tied with Scheifele and two others for third in the NHL. … Forsberg’s goal is his first since Nov. 25, ending an 18-game drought. He has 10 goals in 41 games season. He scored 48 goals in 82 games in 2023-24.