WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- That's using your face.

Jets defenseman Tyler Myers blocked a pair of shots with the least-protected part of his body in a last-minute scramble to preserve Winnipeg's 1-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins and give Connor Hellebuyck the first shutout of his young career.

Officially, the rookie goaltender stopped all 30 shots he faced, but in reality, it was 28. The victory boosted the Jets' record to 16-17-2 and breathed some life into their playoff aspirations.

"I think I go into every game expecting a shutout and then dealing with what happens in the game," Hellebuyck said. "I definitely have been wanting this milestone to come because it means I essentially played a perfect game."

He added with a laugh, "And tonight, with the help of Tyler Myers, I think finally I achieved it."

Myers said he channeled his inner Gump Worsley on a desperation play.

"They got the puck to the net, and fortunately I was able to get a face on it," he said with a smile.

"It was a good play to make, and I'm fortunate that it hit me and just glad we got the two points."

Myers said Hellebuyck was quick to thank him for potentially sacrificing any future modeling career.

"It was good to get his first shutout," Myers said. "It was good to see a young guy like that who's been playing well for us get rewarded."

Hellebuyck's counterpart, Pittsburgh goalie Jeff Zatkoff, was perfect for the entire 60 minutes that the clock was running. The only blemish on his evening came when Jets center Bryan Little beat him high to the glove side on a penalty shot at 14:46 of the first period.

It was Little's 14th goal of the season, and it came after Little was hooked from behind by defenseman Ben Lovejoy on a breakaway.

The Jets' leading scorer admitted he didn't know much about Zatkoff -- the Penguins' primary goalie, Marc-Andre Fleury, is sidelined with a concussion -- but he decided to shoot glove side before he picked up the puck.

"I was either going to go low or high, but I saw definitely more up around his glove was open," he said.

Little was quick to credit Hellebuyck for making his marker stand up as the winner.

"He was outstanding," Little said. "Every time he needed to make a big save, he made one for us and kept us in the game. Even Myers made a big save at the end that kept us in the game. (Hellebuyck) did everything he needed to do for us to win."

Hellebuyck, who said he plans to frame the game puck along with the puck from his first NHL win earlier this season, said he didn't get any extra satisfaction in shutting down two of hockey's premier snipers, centers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

"I think every team's good in this league, and I'm just really excited I finally got this milestone," he said.

Crosby wasn't about to use playing on back-to-back nights as an excuse. The Penguins defeated the Minnesota Wild 3-1 in St. Paul on Saturday night.

"We had a good (Christmas) break," he said. "We should be well-rested. They jumped on us early and we got on our heels a bit. A better start definitely would have helped us."

His coach, Mike Sullivan, said his team's downfall was not managing the puck well in the important areas of the rink.

"We turned the puck over a fair amount of times in the neutral zone," he said. "When we do that, we don't spend as much time in our opponents' zone and we make it easier on them. That's a really important aspect of our team game. We're a team that wants to play with the puck."

Crosby and his teammates have been following the World Juniors in Finland as closely as they can. They watched Canada's 4-2 loss to the U.S. together on Saturday afternoon.

"It's a little bit easier to follow it (in Winnipeg) than it is in Pittsburgh," Crosby said. "The trash talk has already begun, and I'm sure it will increase as the tournament goes on. That's usually the case."

Crosby was a member of the powerhouse junior team that won the tournament in Grand Forks, N.D., in 2005, and took silver the year before in Finland.

Prior to the game, Jets captain Andrew Ladd was demoted from the first line to the third line, with winger Drew Stafford skating alongside Little and right winger Blake Wheeler.

After losing a pair of games to Calgary and Edmonton before the Christmas break, the Jets were anxious to find something -- anything -- positive to help propel them back in the playoff race. They found it in their much-maligned penalty kill, which has been near the bottom of the league for weeks but went 2-for-2 Sunday.

The normally raucous Winnipeg fans sat on their hands for most of the evening but made exceptions late in the third period when Wheeler broke up a two-on-one with Crosby and Malkin and one shift later when defenseman Dustin Byfuglien sent Malkin flying with a solid bodycheck.

Zatkoff stopped 27 shots for Pittsburgh (17-15-3).

NOTES: Jets C Mark Scheifele was put on injured reserve after sustaining a concussion in a collision with LW Andrew Ladd at practice Saturday. ... C Adam Lowry, who was sent down to the Jets' AHL Manitoba Moose affiliate on Dec. 16, was called up to replace Scheifele. He had four assists in four games in the AHL. ... The Penguins scratched D Kris Letang for precautionary reasons after he took a hard hit Saturday vs. Minnesota. Also scratched for Pittsburgh were D Adam Clendening and C Scott Wilson. ... The Jets scratched D Adam Pardy, D Paul Postma and RW Anthony Peluso.