Connor Hellebuyck, Jets blank Flames

WINNIPEG -- Connor Hellebuyck made 28 saves to help the Winnipeg Jets to a 2-0 win against the Calgary Flames at MTS Centre on Monday.
It was Hellebuyck's third shutout this season, first since Nov. 27. He bounced back after allowing three goals in the third period of a 4-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday.
"The guys were blocking a lot of shots, but shots are fun and that game was fun," Hellebuyck said. "The way the guys were playing in front of me made it even more fun because they were controlling the shots and making it easy on me. Any shutout is nice. I don't care how they come."

WATCH: All Flames vs. Jets highlights
Dustin Byfuglien and Blake Wheeler scored for the Jets (20-20-3), who played their first game without forward Patrik Laine, the NHL rookie scoring leader, since he sustained a concussion on a hit from Sabres defenseman Jake McCabe on Saturday.
Right wing Drew Stafford, who replaced Laine on the Jets' top line, got an assist on Byfuglien's game-winning goal.
"That's where I'm naturally comfortable, that's where I play," Stafford said. "I know that I can produce and contribute in that role, so that's pretty much how it is for me."

Chad Johnson made 25 saves for the Flames (22-19-2).
"They seemed to just have a little extra out there, I don't know what it was," Johnson said. "They came pretty hard at us, got pucks deep. They used that momentum there and they just had a little extra, a little more want at the end of the night.
"They played really good defensively. It was hard to get good looks on shots on Hellebuyck, and when we did have anything, he was making the save. I just thought they played harder, and that's pretty much all it came down to."
Byfuglien scored his sixth of the season to make it 1-0 at 10:21 of the first period. He took the puck at the Flames blue line, rushed around defenseman Mark Giordano, toe-dragged the puck to his forehand, and shot over Johnson's glove hand.
Wheeler made it 2-0 at 3:16 of the second after causing defenseman TJ Brodie to turn over the puck at the Flames blue line. Wheeler beat Brodie to the loose puck and shot to the short side over Johnson's glove for his 12th of the season.
"It's frustrating. Definitely not what I planned on happening," Brodie said. "But at the end of the day, it's over with. The more you think about it, the more it affects you. It's time to move on."
Jets left wing Nikolaj Ehlers and Flames left wing Johnny Gaudreau each had a breakaway in the second period. Johnson was able to get his stick down to cover the five-hole to stop Ehlers at 9:37, and Hellebuyck's poke-check got enough of Gaudreau's stick, sending the puck into the corner and out of harm's way with 45 seconds remaining.

Goal of the game

Byfuglien played a give-and-go with Stafford just outside the Flames zone before skating around Giordano and scoring.

Save of the game

Hellebuyck was able to use his stick to disrupt Gaudreau's shot attempt on a breakaway late in the second period, keeping Winnipeg up 1-0.

Highlight of the game

Wheeler's aggressive forecheck against Brodie resulted in a turnover and set up his unassisted goal.

Unsung performance of the game

Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey had two shots on goal, a hit, four blocked shots and a plus-2 rating.

They said it

"The message yesterday was trying to focus on the real positive things we did on the road trip. A good majority of that road trip we took some nice strides, it just got away from us at the wrong time in Buffalo. We had our focus in the right place, and we came out determined tonight to get back on track." -- Jets captain Blake Wheeler
"We looked a little sloppy, like we didn't execute as well as we did in the past. We certainly didn't do that today. I thought they defended well though, so maybe it can be a little bit of that. At the end of the day, we didn't execute some plays, and they did and won." -- Flames coach Glen Gulutzan

Need to know

Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk's point streak ended at nine games, the longest by a rookie this season in the NHL. … Calgary is 2-14-1 when trailing entering the third period. … Byfuglien has six goals in his past 25 games after not scoring in his first 18. … Ehlers extended his point streak to five games with an assist on Byfuglien's goal in the first period. He has five goals and two assists during that stretch.

What's next

Flames: Host the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday (9:30 p.m. ET; SN, SN1, CSN-CA, NHL.TV)
Jets:Host the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; SN, RDS, NHL.TV)