Penguins shut out Jets for eighth victory in row

PITTSBURGH -- Matt Murray made 33 saves, and the Pittsburgh Penguins won their eighth straight game, 4-0 against the Winnipeg Jets at PPG Paints Arena on Friday.

The shutout was Murray's ninth in the NHL, third of the season and second in five starts. He has won seven straight starts, all since missing nine games with a lower-body injury, and has allowed two goals or fewer in six of those seven.
"Every game is a chance to reset, so that's how we look at it," Murray said. "It was just a lot of hard-nosed offense. The Jets are] a hard team. They're big. They like to hit. They like to play physical and go to the net hard. So it seemed like that was the style of the game tonight."
***[WATCH: [All Jets vs. Penguins highlights]*
Olli Maatta, Dominik Simon and Kris Letang scored, and Matt Cullen had a goal and an assist for the Penguins (23-12-6), who have won eight in a row for the first time since March 26-April 7, 2016. They have outscored their opponents 32-9 during the streak.
Connor Hellebuyck made 29 saves for the Jets (25-13-2), who are 3-4-0 in their past seven games after winning their previous five and have scored one goal or fewer in five of those seven games. They had won three straight on the road.

"I think road hockey was getting the best of us a bit," Hellebuyck said. "I thought we prepared the right way. So we have to take a good look, take a step back and continue to build."
Maatta gave Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead on the power play with a slap shot that deflected off Winnipeg forward Blake Wheeler's stick at 14:19 of the first period. It was Maatta's first goal this season and his first in 57 games since he scored twice against the Boston Bruins on March 1.
"They got a couple good bounces," Wheeler said. "They were just a little step quicker, kind of, in everything they did. In the offensive zone, we had a ton of time there. They blocked a ton of our shots. ... Obviously, they did a good job of getting in those lanes and doing the things they needed to do. We were just a half step off."
Cullen scored 33 seconds later, making it 2-0 at 14:52. After Zach Aston-Reese shot off Jets forward Patrik Laine, the puck hit Cullen's head before going in.

Simon extended the lead to 3-0 at 14:39 with a backhand that hit off the right post and went into Hellebuyck's glove. After video review, it was determined the entire puck crossed the goal line while in the glove for Simon's sixth goal of the season and second in his past two games following a 16-game drought.
"I was thinking it's in, but it was close," Simon said. "I wasn't sure, but when I saw it on the video, I thought it was in. So I'm glad. ... It feels great. First thing is that we're winning. We're rolling now."
Letang made it 4-0 with an empty-net goal with 3:32 remaining in the third period.

They said it

"I think they were faster than we were. That's a fact. But they looked like they've looked recently on their streak. They looked quick. They have real good sticks. Knocked a lot of stuff down. Blocked an awful lot of shots. ... I never really felt like we got a whole lot going offensively." -- Jets coach Paul Maurice
"I think we're supporting the puck better. When we support the puck better, we can change the point of attack and move the puck quickly. Nothing moves faster than the puck. So take skating out of it. When the puck support is there, we automatically look faster." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan

Need to know

Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers left the game in the first period with an upper-body injury after colliding with Penguins center Sidney Crosby. Maurice said he would not have an update until Saturday. ... Winnipeg forward Mark Scheifele was held without a point for a fourth straight game. Before this stretch, he had not gone more than two consecutive games without a point this season. ... The Penguins have won 18 straight home games against the Jets/Atlanta Thrashers franchise, which last won at Pittsburgh as the Thrashers on Dec. 27, 2006. ... The Penguins are 27-3-1 all-time against the Jets/Thrashers in Pittsburgh (48-12-3 overall). ... Jamie Oleksiak played on a defense pair with Maatta and had 14:36 of ice time in his first game since sustaining a concussion in a 2-1 win against the Washington Capitals on Dec. 19. ... Crosby had an assist on Letang's goal to extend his point streak to six games. He has 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) in the streak. Crosby had scored at least two points in each of his previous five games.

What's next

Jets: Host the Dallas Stars on Sunday (5 p.m. ET; ESPN+, TSN3, FS-SW, NHL.TV)
Penguins: Host the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV)