WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- On a night a grizzled veteran reached a historic milestone, it was an overlooked rookie who stole the show.

Aaron Dell, an undrafted 27-year-old backup goalie, made 31 saves as his San Jose Sharks took a big bite out of the Winnipeg Jets' playoff hopes Monday with a 3-2 win at the MTS Centre.

Dell saved his best for last, kicking aside a wicked one-timer from Winnipeg scoring sensation Patrik Laine in the final minute to help preserve the victory.

"I've seen him make that play a lot. I know they were looking for it. I kind of kept it in the back of my mind that whole time. I was pretty prepared to get there when they made the play," Dell said following the game.

Not to be outdone, Sharks teammate Joe Thornton became the 13th NHL player in history to reach the 1,000-assist mark when he helped set up Joe Pavelski's empty-netter that but San Jose ahead 3-1 and sealed the victory.

"What can I say? It's pretty cool to get there. I've been waiting awhile now, but to get it over with it's kind of nice, but good game for the guys overall tonight. It was a good win," said Thornton.

It was Pavelski who opened the scoring at 9:45 of the first period when he crashed the net and jammed home a rebound past Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck.

But less than two minutes later, Winnipeg defenseman Josh Morrissey's point blast went through a maze of traffic and beat Dell. Morrissey is enjoying a solid campaign on the blue line and is getting more involved in the offense lately. His goal at 11:27 of the first period was his fourth of the season -- and the second time he lit the lamp against the Sharks.

"There wasn't a lot to be had out there," Morrissey said. "We didn't give them a whole lot and I don't think they did either. That's the sort of playoff hockey we're going to see down the stretch. Those are so valuable to learn from as young players. On the same token, we need to be able to find a way to get that win."

Joel Armia nearly gave the Jets a lead when he was sent in alone later in the period, but Dell won the battle to keep the game tied.

Two of the NHL's busiest tough guys got in on the act as Chris Thorburn and Micheal Haley dropped their gloves at 16:04 of the first period. It ended up being mostly a wrestling match as each took his 11th fighting major of the season, which puts them in a tie for fourth place overall in the league.

After a scoreless second period, Mikkel Boedker had the key play of his game when he scored a shorthanded goal that put the Sharks in the lead for good.

With the Jets on the power play, Laine's soft blue line pass was picked off by Logan Couture, who sprung Boedker with the breakaway. The speedy Danish forward made no mistake for his ninth goal of the season at the 7:26 mark of the final frame.

"(Couture) got a good stick on it when they tried to pass it across," said Boedker. "I was going up the middle there and was able to get it over his stick and go down and get a good shot off and it went in. That was definitely nice and good for us to get that on the PK."

Winnipeg pressed for the equalizer as the clock ticked down but Dell was strong, including the huge stop on Laine. Pavelski scored into the empty net with 25 seconds left -- a goal that would end up being the winner when Winnipeg's Mark Scheifele scored with seven seconds left in the game.

"It was a man's game out there," said Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer. "They're a big, heavy team. I like to think we are too, and there was a real desperation level to their game. I thought they played a hell of a hockey game. And to our guys' credit, we hung in there. The only difference in the game was we scored on our chance in the third and (Dell) made a big save on theirs."

Dell is now 9-3-1 on the season. That includes a win against the Jets in Winnipeg last month, which is just a couple hours up the highway from where he played college hockey for three seasons at the University of North Dakota.

"He's been exceptional. He's been a huge part of our success this year. Every time, people wait for him to stumble and fall -- he finds a way to win another game," DeBoer said of his No. 2 goalie.

Winnipeg continues its six-game homestand by hosting Pittsburgh and Calgary later this week. The Jets are quickly running out of games as they try to get into the playoff picture.

"You go into the third period tied 1-1 at home, you like your chances, but unfortunately we weren't able to close it out tonight," said Winnipeg forward Adam Lowry. "Obviously, it's disappointing, We know the importance of the points and trying to accumulate as many as we can."

NOTES: Monday's game was the first time in nine games the Jets failed to score at least three goals. ... San Jose has collected points in nine of its past 10 games, going 6-1-3 during that time. The only regulation loss came on Sunday night in Minnesota. ... Winnipeg has won consecutive games on 12 different occasions this season, but has only managed to put together one three-game winning streak. With Monday's loss, Winnipeg is 2-18-3 in games when it has a chance to win a third straight. ... Winnipeg is 0-7-0 this season against the Pacific Division's top teams of San Jose, Anaheim and Edmonton. ... Sharks scratches on Monday were F Kevin Labanc and D David Schlemko. ... The Jets sat G Ondrej Pavelec (knee injury), D Mark Stuart and F Nic Petan.