WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Ondrej Pavelec made 27 saves, and the Winnipeg Jets beat the Washington Capitals, 3-0, on Saturday night for their fourth consecutive win.
Mark Stuart, Mark Scheifele and Adam Lowry scored for Winnipeg, which extended its lead to four points over Los Angeles in the chase for the final Western Conference wild card playoff spot.
The Jets (37-23-12) closed out a perfect three-game homestand. It was the fourth win in a row for Pavelec, who only recently reclaimed his starting job from rookie Michael Hutchinson.
The Capitals (39-24-10) lost for the first time in four games, but have a comfortable grip on the Eastern Conference’s first wild card spot.
Pavelec made a number of saves that brought the MTS Centre crowd to its feet, and also benefited from three Washington shots that hit iron.
Braden Holtby had 21 saves for the Capitals.
Stuart, a stay-at-home defenseman, opened the scoring 11:46 into the first period with his second goal of the season. He pinched in from the blue line and Drew Stafford found him from behind the net.
Scheifele made it 2-0 midway through the second period with a high shot that beat Holtby to the glove side after a centering pass from Blake Wheeler. Stafford added his second assist of the game.
Adam Lowry had an empty-net goal with 1:22 remaining.
Winnipeg played without defenseman Dustin Byfuglien, No. 1 center Bryan Little and fourth-leading goal scorer Mathieu Perreault, who are all nursing injuries.
The Jets have 10 games remaining in their pursuit of their first playoff appearance in their four seasons in Winnipeg.
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