Mark Scheifele and Mason Appleton scored, and Laurent Brossoit made 29 saves as the visiting Winnipeg Jets shut out the Vancouver Canucks on Friday night.
The goaltending duel saw Brossoit collect his second career NHL shutout, while Vancouver’s Thatcher Demko stopped 29 of 30 shots in a hard-luck defeat.
The Jets continued their dominance over the Canucks dating back to the 2014-15 season. Winnipeg is 15-2-0 in its last 17 games against Vancouver.
Playing in just his fourth game of the season, backup goalie Brossoit made the most of the start. Both of Brossoit’s career shutouts have come against the Canucks — Brossoit is 3-0-0 with a .981 save percentage all-time against Vancouver.
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At 7:25 of the first period, Scheifele capitalized on an Alexander Edler turnover and rushed in on a breakaway. Scheifele completed the play with a backhand shot for his ninth goal of the season.
Scheifele has scored in four consecutive games. The forward has 13 points (six goals, seven assists) during a nine-game points streak.
Between Scheifele’s goal and Appleton’s empty-net score at 18:43 of the third period, the two goalies took center stage.
Demko made a pair of big stops on Kyle Connor and Mathieu Perreault during a Jets power play late in the first period.
Brossoit had to make four saves within the final five seconds of the opening frame, and continued his strong play into the second period. Brossoit robbed Elias Pettersson during a Vancouver power play at 5:38 of the second period, and then stopped Nate Schmidt’s breakaway chance at the 17:14 mark.
The Jets thought they had snuck a puck under Demko during a flurry in front of the Canucks’ net late in the second period, but the referee’s initial no-goal call was confirmed after a video review.
Both teams went 0-for-2 on power play opportunities. The Canucks are 15-for-16 on penalty kills during their last six games.
The two teams play again on Sunday in Vancouver.
–Field Level Media