James Reimer made 41 saves and Noah Gregor had a goal and an assist as the San Jose Sharks recorded a 3-0 shutout win over the visiting Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday.
The victory ended San Jose’s nine-game (0-6-3) winless streak, avoiding the eighth double-digit winless drought in Sharks franchise history.
Reimer collected his third shutout of the season and was often spectacular in stopping all 41 shots faced. The highlight was a save-of-the-year candidate at 16:19 of the second period, when Reimer extended his stick to knock away Mason Appleton’s shot on an open net.
Gregor recorded his first multi-point performance of the season, including the game’s first tally at 9:51 of the first period. It was the 12th time in the Jets’ last 14 games that the opposing team had scored the opening goal.
Kevin Labanc and Martin Kaut scored the Sharks’ other goals, both in the third period.
The Sharks are only 2-10-4 in their last 16 games, but both wins have come against the Jets. San Jose (20-39-15, 55 points) also collected a 3-2 overtime victory in Winnipeg on March 6.
Winnipeg (41-31-3, 85 points) missed another chance to solidify its playoff position. The Jets hold the Western Conference’s second wild-card spot, but are just two points ahead of the Calgary Flames.
An ill-timed scoring slump has plagued the Jets during their postseason push. The Jets are 5-6-1 with three shutout losses and only 24 goals scored in their last 12 games.
Despite outshooting the Sharks by a 41-30 margin, Winnipeg couldn’t solve Reimer. The Jets didn’t help their cause with several off-target shots, including a Josh Morrissey shot off the goalpost in the opening minute of the second period.
The scoring woes have extended to the Jets’ power play. After going 0-for-3 with the extra attacker on Tuesday, the Jets are 1-for-30 on the power play in their last eight games.
Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck stopped 27 of 30 shots.
–Field Level Media
