Hellebuyck, Jets shut out Stars to increase lead in Central

DALLAS -- Connor Hellebuyck made 25 saves for the Winnipeg Jets in a 4-0 win against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Thursday.

It was his 45th win and eighth shutout of the season, both a franchise record. He is the seventh goalie in NHL history to win at least 45 games in a single season.

“It seems every night the last month or so he’s been accomplishing a new record. You honestly can’t put into words how important he is to our team, what he does day in and day out,” Winnipeg defenseman Josh Morrissey said. “As a teammate of his, I feel extremely lucky that I’ve gotten to play in front of him basically my entire career. What he does in terms of preparation, the way he’s always figuring out ways to improve his game, is incredible. Even in the last few years, you think, ‘Man, I don’t know if this guy can get any better,’ and then he finds a way to. Really lucky to have him, and what he’s doing this year is very special.”

Kyle Connor scored twice to set an NHL career-high in points (94; 40 goals, 54 assists), and Morrissey had two assists for Winnipeg (54-21-4), which is 6-2-0 in its past eight games.

“This is the type of game that’s tight checking. You’re not going to get too many looks. We had one in the second period, a couple in the first. When you get a look, you’ve got to make the most of it and capitalize,” Connor said. “It’s a two-goal game, it’s tight. We’re working for that next one. We came out strong and that PK (to start the third period), set the tone for us. That was a big momentum shifter. Getting three and four, a little bit of breathing room is always a good feeling.”

Jake Oettinger made 31 saves for the Stars (50-23-6), who clinched a top-two finish in the Central Division and home-ice advantage in the Western Conference First Round with the Colorado Avalanche losing 4-1 to the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.

Dallas, which has lost four straight (0-2-2), trails the Jets by six points with three games remaining.

“We’ve struggled with them all year. They’re the best defensive team in the League. Their record is where it’s at because of that,” Dallas forward Matt Duchene said. “I thought we did a lot of good things. Our work ethic was good, some traffic shots, but they were one and done a little too much. Breakdowns that ended up in our net. It’s not like they were dominating us all night. I don’t think it was a 4-0 type game by any means. It felt like a 2-1 either side. I think the last two games [here] are steps in the right direction of where we want to get to, as funny as that sounds.”

Nino Niederreiter gave Winnipeg a 1-0 lead at 18:37 in the first period when he tipped in Morrissey's point shot from the high slot.

“We had to be ready. [Dallas] is obviously a team that hasn’t left our rearview mirror all year long. We had to be good early, and I thought our first period was really strong and we built off that,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. “Throughout our lineup there was a lot of guys that were doing what they had to do for us to have success.”

Morgan Barron made it 2-0 at 3:37 in the second period. He skated around Dallas defenseman Lian Bichsel and shot the puck stick side on Oettinger.

Connor extended the lead to 3-0 by beating Oettinger five-hole at 6:20 in the third period. Dallas forward Oskar Back turned the puck over in Winnipeg's zone, springing Connor for a breakaway.

“They have a good goalie and they play good defensively,” Dallas forward Roope Hintz said. “We got to find a way to score against those guys. We played all right for two periods, but we just couldn’t score, so we got to find a way to score. We got to watch some video and see what didn’t work today, and then from there and take those with us to the next game.”

Connor scored his second of the game to make it 4-0 at 8:40. He converted from the edge of the right face-off circle after Jaret Anderson-Dolan found him with a no-look one-touch pass in the slot.

"Tyler Seguin said it to our group, we went 10-2 down the stretch last year and proceeded to lose two home games to Vegas in the first round, so that tells you how important [the end of the regular season] is,” Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said. “We’ve got to keep building here. There are some periods here that are, for me, winning-type hockey come playoff time in a week. We’ve got to take those and build on them. The things that don’t help you win in the playoffs, like some of the plays we’ve made in the third, we’ve got to eliminate.”

NOTES: With an assist, Winnipeg forward Mark Scheifele set a new career high in points with 85 (38 goals, 47 assists). … Dallas was the last team in the League to be shut out this season.