Demko makes 27 saves, Canucks shut out Jets

WINNIPEG -- Thatcher Demko made 27 saves for his first NHL shutout, and the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Winnipeg Jets 4-0 at Bell MTS Place on Monday.

"I thought the guys played really solid tonight. The first two periods, I didn't see much," said Demko, who made 15 saves in the third period. "They're a good team over there. They're going to try and claw their way back into the game in the third, and I thought we did a good job handling that and playing the right way for a full 60 (minutes)."
Nate Schmidt and Elias Pettersson each had a goal and an assist, and Adam Gaudette had two assists for the Canucks (9-14-2), who won for the first time in five games.
"I think we just had a good mindset going in," Vancouver defenseman Travis Hamonic said. "We just wanted to keep our foot on the gas a little bit and weather their storm when they came and be ready for our opportunities when we get back into their end and play our brand of hockey. I think it was an important second half to the game for us, for sure, and especially with a back-to-back seeing the same team tomorrow."
The Canucks and Jets will play here again Tuesday to complete a two-game set.
Connor Hellebuyck made 15 saves for the Jets (13-7-1), who had a four-game winning streak end and were shut out for the first time this season.
"We didn't get our offensive game to where it needs to get to until the third," Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice said. "There wasn't much for us tonight. … I don't think we gave up a whole heck of a lot. They get up 3-0, they're going to sit on it a bit, so they stop forcing the issue."
Vancouver scored twice in 18 seconds during a three-goal first period.
"It was good to see our guys just get into the game early," Schmidt said. "When things like that happen, it just kind of gives you that extra jump as the game goes on."

Schmidt made it 1-0 at 8:28 with a one-timer from above the left face-off circle before J.T. Miller deflected Schmidt's point shot at 8:46 to make it 2-0.
"I'll take them, especially that first one. I was just trying to get one through," Schmidt said. "[Miller] makes a really good tip on that second goal. That's an elite-level play for him to come across and tip that one down. That was awesome. A really good play by him."
Nils Hoglander scored a power-play goal at 14:50 to make it 3-0.

"You're down three, it's tough," Jets captain Blake Wheeler said. "We have shown an ability to fight back from that this year. I still felt we had a chance to claw our way back into the game. It was just too big of a hurdle tonight."
Pettersson scored into an empty net at 16:25 of the third period for the 4-0 final.
NOTES: It was Demko's 49th NHL regular-season start. He made 48 saves in a 4-0 win against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 6 of the 2020 Western Conference Second Round. … Pettersson has six points (four goals, two assists) in the past four games. … Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers' three-game point streak ended (one goal, three assists).