Jets prevent Stars from clinching Central with shutout victory

DALLAS (AP) — Laurent Brossoit stopped 24 shots for his third shutout in his past five starts, David Gustafsson scored on his 24th birthday and the Winnipeg Jets beat the Dallas Stars 3-0 on Thursday night.

The Jets won their fifth consecutive game coming off a six-game winless streak and prevented the Stars from clinching the Central Division title.

Instead, Winnipeg avoided a season sweep by Dallas and matched Colorado in second place with 104 points, five behind the Stars.

“That team’s a great hockey team over there,” said Jets coach Rick Bowness, who led the Stars for 2 1/2 seasons from 2019-22. “We knew we had to bring our ‘A’ game, and they did. That’s the way we want to play.”

Dallas has two games remaining, while the Jets and Avalanche each have three. Winnipeg has clinched the tiebreaker against Colorado with a 2-0 season series lead going into the teams' final meeting Saturday in Denver.

Nikolaj Ehlers opened the scoring with an unassisted goal, his 24th, late in the first period. Gustafsson scored midway through the second. Mark Scheifele added an empty-netter for his 25th.

“They're in first right now for a reason,” Ehlers said of the Stars. “For us to go out there and play the way that we did tonight against a great team, that shows what we can do if we play the right way.”

The Stars, second in the NHL in scoring, were shut out for the third time this season, and first since a 4-0 loss at Tampa Bay on Dec. 4. It was the first time Dallas was blanked at home.

“I recognize a lot of that system for sure,” Stars forward Tyler Seguin said of facing Bowness’ defense-first team. “We know the style. Couldn’t crack it tonight.”

Dallas didn't lose ground in the President's Cup race for the best record in the NHL. The New York Rangers lost to Philadelphia at home and remained one point ahead of the Stars with 110. The Rangers have two games remaining as well.

Jake Oettinger made 21 saves for Dallas as his eight-game winning streak ended.

“We've been on a really good run here for a long time,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “I guess that's the silver lining, we didn't beat ourselves tonight, and they got a couple of bounces around the net.”

Brossoit, the backup to Connor Hellebuyck, made several scrambling saves and got a break in the second period when a shot redirected by Jamie Benn clanged off a post and settled under the 31-year-old journeyman.

The first two shutouts of the season for Brossoit came a week apart in March. His sixth career shutout came in his first action in 10 days. Brossoit is 7-1 in his past eight starts going back to Feb. 20.

“We didn't give up a lot, but when we did, he was there,” Bowness said. “He's been so good for us this year.”

UP NEXT

Jets: Winnipeg won in Colorado on Dec. 7 and beat the Avs again at home nine days later.

Stars: Seattle at home Saturday.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL