The Winnipeg Jets have improved to 21-9-4 on the year with a 4-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.
Nino Niederreiter scored twice, while Alex Iafallo and Axel Jonsson-Fjallby picked up the other markers for the Winnipeg Jets, which improved to 21-9-4 on the season following a 4-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.
The Jets got things going early, scoring twice in the opening frame to pull ahead to a 2-0 lead through 20 minutes.
First, it was Iafallo, whose bouncer found its way through Filip Gustavsson after a weird bounce off defenceman Jared Spurgeon. Vlad Namestnikov picked up the lone helper on the play.
Then, it was Niederreiter, who banked home a rebound following an Adam Lowry wraparound try. With Mason Appleton and Lowry working hard behind the Wild net, the puck squirted free to Niederreiter, whose 11th of the season doubled up Winnipeg's lead.
Through a full period of play, the Jets pulled out ahead 2-0 and led 12-9 on the shot chart.
Niederreiter got another in short order. Scoring his second of the game just 6:45 into the middle stanza, Niederreiter helped his club out to an early 3-0 lead.
“I think that’s where my office is," Niederreiter laughed. "I like to be in the paint. I try to get in there as good as possible. It’s always going to create chances. When the Scheif gave me the last one for the third one, I guess I've gotta to work on those a little further out as well.”
But later in the second period, it was Ryan Hartman who got the Wild on the board. With Mark Scheifele in the box for holding on a rather phantom call, Hartman put home a power play marker with 9:55 to go in the second.
Minnesota's pressure led to a strong output on the shot chart in the middle frame, as the Wild came away with a 23-22 shot advantage heading into the third period.
With five Jets penalties taken in the frame, it was no surprise that Minnesota was able to score once. Also no surprise was the fact that the Jets couldn't score on any of their three power plays through 40 minutes.
"I was disappointed to take that many penalties because we lost the flow," head coach Rick Bowness said. "Some of the guys ended up sitting on the bench too long because there were back to back penalties, but overall, regardless of who we play, that grinding style is how we’re going to play our five on five game.”
The Wild shocked most in attendance, as it was Marc-Andre Fleury who led the team out of the dressing room for the third period, rather than Filip Gustavsson, who appeared to have hurt himself at some point in the second period.
The change-up seemed to be enough to kick-start the offence for Minnesota, which scored just 20 seconds into the period. It was Matt Boldy, who put home a dish from the high slot, bringing the visitors to just one goal from Winnipeg's three.
But just two-and-a-half minutes later, Jonsson-Fjallby scored on Fleury, finishing off the play by recent lineup addition Dominic Toninato.
“That line’s been giving us really good quality minutes," Bowness added. "They’re doing their job. What we need them to do is get the puck deep and forecheck and spend some time in that zone. And they did an excellent job of that. There’s a line that I would have liked to get a little bit more ice time.”
Defenceman Brenden Dillon and Jacob Middleton threw down in a spirited tilt midway through the frame, as the big defender tied a career-high with his fifth fight of the season just after he sent Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov to the room with an apparent rib injury on a crosscheck.
Niederreiter came within inches of his second hat trick of the season, by a spectacular save by Fleury kept the Wild within two goals with five minutes left to play.
With Fleury on the bench for the extra attacker, Gabe Vilardi was called for tripping with 1:32 left to play. The Wild called a timeout but were unable to get anything going on the power play, leaving Winnipeg with a 4-2 loss, only to do it all again on Sunday afternoon.
Hellebuyck turned aside 35 of the 37 Wild shots he faced on the afternoon, while Gustavsson made 19 stops on Winnipeg's 22 shots, before Fleury gave up a single goal on the 10 pucks he faced in relief.
Next up is a quick turnaround for both clubs, which square off in the second game of the home-and-home on Sunday afternoon. That game is also set for a 1:00 PM central start time and can be viewed on TSN.
