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Ehlers enjoys three point night and Hellebuyck shuts out Stars to even series at 1 Featured

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Winnipeg, Manitoba (NHN)-Nikolaj Ehlers scored twice and added an assist and Connor Hellebuyck stopped all 21 shots he faced to shutout the Dallas Stars 4-0 to even their second round playoff series at a game apiece.

It was Hellebuyck's 4th NHL career playoff shutout.

“I thought the guys in front of me did a phenomenal job, just letting me see pucks and keeping the tips away, playing the rebounds. It’s never just the goalie doing it; it’s everyone out there," said Hellebuyck.

Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey, who returned to the lineup after missing game one of the series said Hellebuyck was dialed in.

"He's an incredible goaltender. He makes very difficult saves look very easy routinely and often and you could tell he was feeling it tonight."< Gabriel Vilardi and Adam Lowry also scored for the Jets.

Dylan DeMelo had a pair of assists.

Jake Oettinger made 21 saves for Dallas.

Gabriel Vilardi got the Jets on the board with a power play marker 3:35 into the game after Tyler Seguin took a double minor for high sticking Josh Morrissey 17 seconds into the game.

Nikolaj Ehlers hit the post off a shot from the slot and Vilardi slid the rebound past Oettinger to give the Jets a 1-0 lead.

The goal was his first of the post-season.

Ehlers scored Winnipeg's second goal at 7:07 when his attempted centering pass for Mark Scheifele was redirected by Dallas defenceman Esa Lindell's skate right into the Stars net.

The goal was his 1st of the playoffs.

"I think overall we played a really good game and Bucky made some really good saves," said Ehlers.

Adam Lowry gave Winnipeg a 3-0 lead 11:02 into the second period when he tracked down a puck shot off the glass by Dylan DeMelo and beat Oettinger top shelf.

The goal was his 4th of the playoffs.

Stars forward Matt Duchene had a simple take on the game.

"Ya they (Jets) were better than us tonight, it's as simple as that," said Duchene. "You know I don't think it was a horrible effort from us. I think it (effort) was just not at the level it needs to be at."

"They scored on the power play and one goes off our own skate and into the net, you're down 2-0. You know I don't know how many minutes into the game that's some big problem in this rink," said Dallas Head Coach Peter DeBoer.

Jets Head Coach Scott Arniel said his club applied pressure when it was needed. "When we pressure either whether that's in the O-Zone or in the D-Zone, that's the idea you know to get the puck back."

The game marked the first time since late March that the Jets iced their full lineup.

"Ya that's the first game since Game 71 (regular season) that everybody's back so that's good to see. Obviously the familiarity that started off that power play. Obviously you have that four minute early in the game like that and they score, it was big."

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Philip Paul-Martin

A well rounded journalist with experience in both print and broadcast mediums, Philip has written news stories with impact, broken national news while at the CBC, anchored radio news and hosted talk show radio. His coverage includes feature writing, game stories and more in-depth pieces during the off-season as well as writing about the National Hockey League and the Winnipeg Jets. He calls Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada home.