Connor nets pair, Hellebuyck blanks Kraken in 3-0 win

SEATTLE --Connor Hellebuyck made 25 saves for the Winnipeg Jets in a 3-0 win against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Thursday.

It was Hellebuyck's first shutout this season and 25th in the NHL.
"I wanted it for the guys," Hellebuyck said. "… We were aggressive, we were all over them. We didn't let them set up, we didn't let them have plays, we made them earn it, and we worked really hard. We worked hard tonight."

Kyle Connor scored two goals, and Mark Scheifele had two assists for the Jets (13-9-4), who have won three of their past four games.
Philipp Grubauer made 30 saves for the Kraken (9-15-2), who have been outscored 9-1 in their past two games.
"I thought they were good tonight early on," Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. "They were there on top of us with good sticks. That's a combination of play on our part and good play, pressure, and good sticks on their part. The difference in the first 30 minutes was we had one turnover that ended up in the back of our net. We had the better the chances in the second period, but we couldn't find the back of the net.".
Dominic Toninato gave Winnipeg a 1-0 lead at 5:24 of the first period. Paul Stastny stole the puck from Carson Soucy below the goal line and passed to Toninato for a shot glove side from the slot.
Connor scored 47 seconds into the third period to make it 2-0. He left a drop pass for Scheifele near the blue line before skating to the right hash marks, where he was left all alone and scored blocker side.
"We have to let that play happen and come to us and push it to the outside," Hakstol said. "We're trying to do too much instead of just putting the puck in an area. We're trying to hold it so we can start the next shift with the puck. But in reality, that ends up coming against us."
Connor extended the lead to 3-0 at 14:54 of the third period after getting behind the Kraken defense and beating Grubauer over his glove.
"When you focus on as little things as possible, everything else comes into place," Connor said. "That was our focus. Even personally, if I'm not playing well, I get back to focusing on moving my feet and skating to check. More times than not you're going to create a lot of loose pucks."

WPG@SEA: Connor pokes puck through Kraken and scores

Winnipeg entered the game 31st in the NHL on the penalty kill (66.2 percent) but was 5-for-5 while limiting Seattle to just two shots on net.
"We're moving our feet and we've got mobile guys on the kill," Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon said. "I think when you ask any power-play player or any offensively gifted player, you've got to try and take their time and space away. They've got some skilled guys that can make plays."
NOTES:Connor, who turned 25 on Thursday, is the second player in Jets/Atlanta Thrashers history to score multiple goals on his birthday, joining Dany Heatley (Jan. 21, 2003).