Wild's early success doesn't last in loss to Jets

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Wild couldn’t overtake Winnipeg for the top spot in the NHL, but they could remind the Jets that they have competition for first place, best in the West and the Central Division crown.

That was the message the Wild sent initially before fading for a 4-1 loss on Monday night at Xcel Energy Center to drop another tightly contested division battle after they faltered in their previous biggest game vs. the Dallas Stars.

The game already was in next-goal-wins territory halfway through because of how stellar each team’s goaltender has been when former Wild forward Nino Niederreiter’s tiebreaker at 12 minutes, 5 seconds of the second period made the difference. Winnipeg netminder Connor Hellebuyck was airtight the rest of the way to finish with 43 saves and backstop the Jets to their seventh consecutive victory over the Wild and fourth in a row in St. Paul.

Niederreiter’s game-winner proved just how slim the margins were: After the Wild killed off a penalty to get back to full strength, Jake Middleton was denied twice on a breakaway, with Hellebuyck fending off the first shot and Middleton’s whack at the rebound.

As the puck went the other direction, Joel Eriksson Ek and Yakov Trenin remained behind the play tied up with the Jets’ Alex Iafallo, setting up a 4-on-3 advantage that Niederreiter capitalized on when he skated uncontested to the middle to lift a backhander past Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson. Neiderreiter has seven goals in 15 career games vs. the Wild.

During the third, the Wild made a late push after a timid start, but their execution on a season-high 44 shots remained off.

Meanwhile, Winnipeg tacked on an insurance goal on the power play (1 for 3) on Iafallo’s second of the night at 13:20; Neal Pionk assisted on Iafallo’s goal and Niederreiter’s. Adam Lowry buried an empty-netter with 1:03 to go. The Wild power play went 0 for 2.

As a result, the Jets (18-4) widened their lead over the Wild to six points.

Wins earlier in the night by the Devils and Hurricanes moved the Wild (13-4-4) from second to fourth. This was the second straight game they’ve dropped, but they’ve yet to lose two in a row in regulation; the Wild rallied for a point in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Flames on Saturday.

Kirill Kaprizov was out that game after a knee-on-knee hit from the Oilers’ Drake Caggiula last Thursday, but Kaprizov returned for the rematch vs. Winnipeg and went pointless for just the fourth time this season.

During their only other meeting, the Wild were dumped 2-1 by the Jets in overtime on Oct. 13, but the asterisk next to that outcome was the Wild were finishing a back-to-back and missing captain Jared Spurgeon and Joel Eriksson Ek to injuries.

The Wild still weren’t completely healthy when they fell 2-1 to Dallas on Nov. 16 in another division test and although Mats Zuccarello and Marat Khusnutdinov remained out, the Wild were much more cohesive in Round 2 vs. Winnipeg.

Their readiness was on display from the beginning, with the Wild slickly moving the puck up ice and around the offensive zone while also testing Hellebuyck in tight. Eventually, the Wild opened the scoring for a league-leading 14th time, as Middleton buried a Marcus Johansson rebound at 8:37. Johansson is on a four-game point streak.

But the Jets are atop the standings for a reason, and they rebounded quickly: After Rasmus Kupari forced a Wild turnover along the boards, he set up Iafallo for a blistering backhander just 1:26 after Middleton’s goal.

Still, the Wild were in control for much of the period, and they unleashed a whopping 22 shots on Hellebuyck for their highest output of any period this season and second-best first-period total in franchise history.

The Wild didn’t ease up much in the second, racking up another 17 shots, but the Jets also upped their pressure and were opportunistic during that rare odd-man break against Gustavsson, who made 28 stops.

And yet as neck-and-neck as the Wild and Jets were, the final score still rang up as another loss for the Wild.

They haven’t won against Winnipeg, Dallas and Colorado (excluding the playoffs) in nearly 20 months.

Finally securing a statement win inside the division is type of resume builder the Wild are lacking during their surge through the first quarter of the season, but they will get more opportunities. Their next and final clash with the Jets is Dec. 21 in Winnipeg.

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