The Winnipeg Jets have improved to 34-15-5 following a 6-3 victory over the visiting Minnesota Wild on Tuesday evening.
The Winnipeg Jets met up with their nearest geographical rival at Canada Life Centre on Tuesday night. The game between the Jets and Minnesota Wild was expected to be a narrow Central Division tilt featuring goals and fights.
The two teams did not disappoint.
Serving as the first tilt since the now highly-publicized exchange between Cole Perfetti and Ryan Hartman, many were anticipating some retribution from the Wild.
Both Logan Stanley and Vlad Namestnikov got themselves involved in the fisticuffs as the game wore on, while five different Jets scored in the nine-goal affair.
Gabe Vilardi, Mason Appleton, Kyle Connor, Sean Monahan and Nino Niederreiter each scored for Winnipeg, which picked up its fourth win in its past five games.
"We knew they had a lot of firepower, so when you get up that early it’s a long game," winning netminder Laurent Brossoit said. "I thought we did a great job of weathering the storm in the second, because they did have a pretty good push. And then closed it up in the third.”
Things did not start off so well for former Jets defenceman Declan Chisholm in the first period. The Waiver wire pickup found himself in the box for hooking Nino Niederreiter. And the red-hot Jets power play made him pay.
It took nearly the full two minutes to get one past Marc-Andre Fleury, but in the end it was Vilardi who got the last touch on strong effort for the team's top unit.
Josh Morrissey found Kyle Connor, whose shot redirected in off Vilardi's foot, giving Winnipeg the lead and its fifth power play goal in its past six periods of play.
"It’s good that the power play is finally contributing," Vilardi said. "We are going to need that to keep going.”
Then, just 14 seconds later, Appleton got his 10th of the season, doubling the Jets' lead to 2-0 in a blink of an eye.
Before fans could even retake their seats, Adam Lowry found Appleton, who quickly got the speakers blasting once again.
As much offence as Winnipeg put together in the opening frame, it was actually Minnesota that walked away up 13-11 on the shot chart.
The middle stanza began with another Jets goal, as Connor picked up his 20th of the season off a nice setup from Vilardi. For the speedy winger, the goal marked his seventh-straight season scoring at least 20 times.
But before the period could end, the Wild got one back, with Chisholm picking up the primary assist on Marco Rossi's 16th of the season. Minnesota's ongoing attack led to another 17 shots, extending its lead to 28-14 through 40 minutes.
The third period saw more of the same. The Wild ended up on top in terms of shots, but it was Winnipeg that potted another three goals to Minnesota's two.
First, it was Vilardi who gave Winnipeg its second power play goal of the game and sixth in its past three games on a netfront redirection of a Josh Morrissey shot.
"It’s a great read by him," Vilardi said of Morrissey's shot. "Obviously the shot’s going wide if you look at the replay. But if he puts it in that area I can tip it. And I tell him a lot, and he knows, if there is a lane… It’s all dependent on the PK. It’s not like it’s A or B, there’s a lot of variables. Reading off of what the other team’s doing."
Then it was Monahan who replicated the Vilardi deflection, tipping home a Dylan DeMelo shot, extending Winnipeg's lead to four.
But before fans could celebrate the win, the visitors kept it close.
Kirill Kaprizov and Marco Rossi each scored late in the third, cutting the deficit to 5-3.
With Fleury on the bench for the extra attacker, Niederreiter put the finishing touches on the Jets win, sealing the deal into a wide open net.
Brossoit made 36 stops on the 39 Wild shots he faced, while Fleury turned aside 24 of the 29 pucks sent his way.
Next up for Winnipeg is a one-game road trip to Chicago, as the Jets take on the Blackhawks from the United Center on Friday night. That game features a 7:30 PM central start time and can be viewed live on TSN.
