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Pavelec turns in clean sheet as Jets down Predators

Nov 9, 2013 - 4:58 AM Winnipeg, MB (SportsNetwork.com) - Ondrej Pavelec turned away 41 shots to post his first shutout of the season, and Bryan Little added a pair of goals to fuel Winnipeg's 5-0 triumph over Nashville at MTS Centre.

Olli Jokinen, Eric Tangradi and Devin Setoguchi also tallied for the Jets, who won for just the third time in their last 10 games.

"I thought we played a good first period. I thought we were fortunate to score four goals," said Jets head coach Claude Noel. "I thought our goalie was very good. A night like tonight we'll take the 5-0 game but it wasn?t necessarily a clinic, but we?ll take the win."

Carter Hutton was yanked after giving up three goals on eight shots in only 8:23 of action for the Predators, who couldn't maintain momentum from Wednesday's win at Colorado.

Marek Mazanec made his NHL debut in relief and gave up two scores on 24 shots.

Winnipeg lit the lamp three times in just over five minutes before the midway point of the first period to take a commanding lead.

Little got things started with 3:04 on the clock on his turnaround chance in the left circle off an Andrew Ladd rebound. Jokinen doubled the advantage at 6:47 by tapping in an Evander Kane feed atop the crease, then Tangradi deflected a Dustin Byfuglien point blast past Hutton from the left point at the 8:23 mark.

Mazanec was called on, but gave up Setoguchi's tally with 3:15 to play before posting a scoreless second period thanks to 10 saves. Jokinen won a left- circle draw and pushed the puck ahead before dishing off to the goal scorer.

"Too many odd man rushes and we turned over pucks. All the damage was done in the first half of the first period. We weren't ready and they jumped on top of us," noted Predators defenseman Shea Weber.

The Jets fired again in the third, as Little's second of the contest provided a five-goal spread just prior to the midway point. That score moved him into third on the Atlanta/Winnipeg franchise goal list with 109, vaulting over Marian Hossa.

Pavelec completed his perfect game with 15 stops in the second and withstood a 17-shot barrage by the visitors in the final 20 minutes.

Game Notes

Little notched his second multi-goal performance this season, having done so in a 5-4 loss against the Capitals on Oct. 22 ... Pavelec turned in his 11th career whitewash and first since a 33-save effort in a 7-0 win over the Panthers on Mar. 1, 2012 ... The Jets snapped a four-game losing streak to Nashville, one which stretched back to a 3-2 OT decision by the Thrashers over the Preds on Dec. 6, 2010 ... Friday's win was Winnipeg's first home decision over Nashville since relocating from Atlanta in 2011.