The Winnipeg Jets overcome earlier shooting barrage and take down the Minnesota Wild for a 4-1 victory on Monday
The Winnipeg Jets extended their winning streak over the Minnesota Wild to seven as they beat their division rival 3-1 on Monday.
It was a close game with Minnesota starting the game hot and pummelling Connor Hellebuyck with shots early on before the Jets return the favour in the second half of the game. Hellebuyck made 43 saves on 44 shots and allowed just one goal for the fifth time this season.
It was a big game for Winnipeg's Alex Iaffalo, who scored twice for his first multi-goal game of the season. Defenceman Neal Pionk also had a great night with a pair of assists.
The Wild forced Hellebuyck to make a handful of stellar saves out of the gate and put the Jets on their heels very early. Winnipeg's luck ran out however as Marcus Johansson takes a quick shot off the face off and works the puck perfectly off Hellebuyck's pad to an open Jacob Middleton. He shoots on the open net from the left side for the first goal of the game. This wasn't the first time he scored the opening goal in a matchup against the Jets as he did so in their first matchup earlier this season.
The Jets quickly responded minutes later on a surprising shift where the fourth forward line was matched up and Minnesota's second line. The play was created by centre Rasmus Kupari, who catches Wild captain Jared Spurgeon off guard with a big hit and scoops the puck off him out of the corner. He works behind the net and finds linemate Alex Iaffalo in front of the net. He makes a quick move from forehand to backhand and fires off a quick shot that surprises Gustavsson and blows past his blocker for the game tying goal.
Minnesota looked to take back the lead and caught a break with Gabe Vilardi receiving a delay of game penalty. The Wild had their chances but it didn't amount to a goal as the game was tied 1-1 after 20 minutes. The first period ended with Minnesota working more shots through like their first goal with shots from the point and trying to work deflections and rebounds past Hellebuyck.
This resulted in the Wild massively out-shooting the Jets in the first period with 22 shots to 7 from Winnipeg. The tide started to turn for the Jets when Ryan Hartman took a costly interference penalty, taking out Kyle Connor for an interference penalty and put the Jets on the power play.
Winnipeg didn't score with the man advantage but had the momentum back in their direction. The Jets came down on a fast break where they worked the puck around and Vladislav Namestnikov finds Neal Pionk quickly entering the zone. He pulls in two Wild defenders looking to block what they think will be a shot but ends up being a pass to a low-hanging Nino Niederreiter. He has the puck wide open on the side of the net and Niederreiter beats Gustavsson across and fires home the go-ahead goal.
What people didn't see on the other end was two Wild players attempting to fight Alex Iaffalo as the Jets were working their odd man rush and it backfired on Minnesota greatly. The Wild finished the period with significantly more shots on net with 39 to the Jets 19 in the second. Winnipeg still had the momentum thanks to the go-ahead goal and went into the third looking to close out the game. They quickly regained ground in the shot column as they outnumbers the Wild 12 to 5 and continued their barrage until they score their third goal of the game.
It started when Marcus Foligno gets caught for a bad holding penalty and put the Jets on the power play where they hadn't been able to break through just yet and were due for a goal with the man advantage. The goal was off a shot similar to a majority of the Minnesota shots early in the game where Neal Pionk fires the puck through a sea of bodies and hopes to get a bounce or deflection which he does off Alex Iaffalo in front of the net, making it 3-1 for the Jets.
Winnipeg captain Adam Lowry sealed the win with an empty net goal. It was an overall great win for the Jets as they started off the game sluggish but found their game and made opportunistic plays when they needed them. Winnipeg will look to start another winning streak when traveling to LA to take on the Kings Wednesday night.