Jets Pull Back Atop Central Division with Victory Over Rival Minnesota

The Winnipeg Jets and Minnesota Wild delivered what many expected on Tuesday night: a good, old-fashioned, Central Division rivalry night game. 

And fans certainly left Canada Life Centre fulfilled, knowing their beloved Jets are back atop the Central Division (4-1-1) after a year off last season, thanks to a decisive 5-2 win on home soil.

Winnipeg pulled ahead rather quickly to 1-0 and 2-1 leads, but it was the visitors - who were down quite a few bodies to injury - that provided an answer both times.

No, Tyrell Bauer didn't fight, but there certainly was a particular level of grit and tenacity on display between the two clubs on Tuesday. 

Cole Perfetti and Kirill Kaprizov each scored twice, while Neal Pionk picked up two helpers as he stepped into the No. 1 defenceman role with Josh Morrissey out with a hand injury. 

“I think he's had some familiarity in past seasons," Perfetti said of Pionk. "He’s a very offensively gifted player, he shows that on a nightly basis, the plays that he can make and his poise back there. He knows when to shoot, he knows when to make the pass - tonight he has that backdoor pass to Scheif, and then you know he slides into the power play with a seamless transition. It's great to have that, it's great to be out there with a guy that we haven't practiced together, but he's just confident himself and confident as a group, so that's awesome.”

Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor got the other goals for Winnipeg, with each of them also adding an assist. 

But Perfetti was the story of the game. He continued his offensive breakout that saw him collect his fourth and fifth goals of the young season. He now has five goals in six games - a feat that took him 40 games last season (January 31). 

“You're always open," Perfetti laughed when asked about playing with Scheifele."

"Even when you think you're covered or when you think you're out of the play, you're never out of it. Just go find open ice. Even when you think he's getting defended pretty well and doesn't have much of a play to make, he's able to make so many cross-seam plays, little tight plays. I don't think you really understand until you play with him how you feel like you're not even a part of it at that point. Like you're like, ‘I'm not open,’ and then all of a sudden the puck's on your stick. You're like, ‘here we go,’ so you better be better be ready at all times. It's awesome to play with him.”

Cole Koepke put the finishing touches on the Wild with the Jets' fifth goal of the game - his first of the season on a decisive two-on-one rush up ice. 

Stuart Skinner was sensational in net again for Winnipeg, as he turned aside 19 of the 21 pucks fired his way. The same could not be said of Winnipegger Calvin Pickard, who made just 20 stops on 25 shots in his return to him home city. 

Winnipeg next hits the road for a Thursday night affair in Chicago, before welcoming home Stanley Cup champion Nikolaj Ehlers on Saturday afternoon in a 2:30 PM matinee.