Hellebuyck, Jets shut out Canucks

WINNIPEG --Connor Hellebuyck made 29 saves and Patrik Laine scored to help the Winnipeg Jets to a 1-0 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Bell MTS Place on Sunday.
Hellebuyck, who was named an All-Star for the first time in his NHL career on Jan. 10, is 25-6-6 with four shutouts. He is 8-2-2 in his past 12 starts.

"It was a team shutout tonight," Hellebuyck said. "The guys played really good in front of me, they kept things to the outside and made my game pretty easy."
WATCH: [All Canucks vs. Jets highlights]
Winnipeg (28-13-7) moved into first place in the Central Division, one point ahead of the Nashville Predators. The Jets are 8-2-1 in their past 11 games.
Anders Nilsson made 35 saves for the Canucks (18-23-6). Vancouver is 2-6-1 in its past nine games and 4-13-2 in its past 19. Nilsson has lost six straight starts and hasn't won since Nov. 30, a 5-3 victory against Nashville.
"I felt good, but tough to not get a point tonight," Nilsson said. "I think maybe we deserved one point, but it was a tough game and their goalie played good and kept the puck out of the net for them."

The Canucks played the final 1:30 of the third period with a 6-on-4 man-advantage but did not have a shot on goal.
"It was a good hockey game," Canucks coach Travis Green said. "A 1-0 game on the road, you know your team played a pretty solid game and got good goaltending. Just couldn't find a way to score."
Laine scored at 11:45 of the first period, converting a one-timer in the slot after Blake Wheeler found him from behind the net. Laine leads the Jets with 21 goals.
"Four points out of the four, so it's not bad," Laine said. "It's going to be like this for the next couple of months, but everybody here in this locker room is comfortable with that kind of game and that's the reason why we're winning.
"We're a tight defensive team and we've got to score on the few chances that we get."

Nilsson kept it a 1-0 game when he slid across his crease to save Mathieu Perreault's one-timer after a centering feed from Nikolaj Ehlers with 15 seconds remaining in the second period.

Goal of the game

Laine's goal at 11:45 of the first period.

Save of the game

Hellebuyck's glove save against Nic Dowd at 3:09 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Nilsson's save against Perreault at 19:45 of the second period.

They said it

"It took me a little bit to get going, get my legs under me and my timing back, but as the game when on I felt it got better and better. Obviously not the result we wanted, but it's a step in the right direction." -- Canucks forward Bo Horvat
"I think they have a real strong understanding of what they're supposed to be doing (defensively). We're still young in just age on some guys, but the overall structure their understanding is good. I think the back end has really helped. You take two centers out of your lineup (Mark Scheifele and Adam Lowry), it puts an awful lot of stress on your defense." -- Jets coach Paul Maurice

Need to know

Horvat returned after missing 18 games because of a lower-body injury. … Canucks defenseman Erik Gudbranson missed his second straight game because of back spasms. … The Canucks have been shut out four times this season. … Wheeler has 13 points (five goals, eight assists) in his past 11 games.

What's next

Canucks: Host the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday (10 p.m. ET; SN, FS-W, NHL.TV)
Jets: At the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday (10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, TSN3, NHL.TV)