Mired in an early season slump, the Minnesota Wild had the table set for a feel-good win, only to see it slip away.
Nino Niederreiter tied the game in the third and Kyle Connor scored in overtime for for the Winnipeg Jets, who led early, trailed late, then rallied for a 4-3 win at Grand Casino Arena.
It was the fourth consecutive loss for the Wild, who led with nine minutes to play following a third period power play goal by Marcus Johansson.
Filip Gustavsson had 17 saves for the Wild, who fell to 3-5-3 with the loss.
After trailing 2-0 early, Kirill Kaprizov and Brock Faber scored second period goals for Minnesota.
Minnesota came out shooting, sending 10 pucks toward Connor Hellebuyck in the first 10 minutes, although the goalie – who is renowned for his ability to be square to the puck – was up to the task, making the 10 saves look routine.
On the other end of the rink, Winnipeg got traffic in front of the Wild net and scored on consecutive shifts, taking a 2-0 lead on goals by Gabriel Vilardi and Vladislav Namestnikov just 22 seconds apart.
Minnesota’s power play, which had scored three times in its previous two games, got an opportunity early in the second period, but versus Winnipeg’s NHL-leading penalty killers, they could sustain little pressure.
The first opportunity the home crowd had to roar came four minutes into the middle frame, when Wild defenseman Jake Middleton exchanged punches with Jets blueliner Luke Schenn.
The Wild sent practically everyone to the net to finally solve Hellebuyck six minutes into the middle frame.
The goalie made a shoulder save on a wrist shot by captain Jared Spurgeon, but the rebound sailed high into the air, then landed in the crease. Amid the mad scramble of bodies that followed, Kaprizov was able to poke in the loose puck a split second before the net was dislodged.
The referee on scene initially ruled no goal, but after a short conversation they reversed course. Winnipeg did not ask for a review.
Spurgeon’s assist on the play was the 300th of his NHL career. He became the third player in Wild history to reach 300 assists, after Mikko Koivu (504) and Ryan Suter (314).
A simple lack of puck luck prevented the Wild from tying the game near the midway point of the second when a Joel Ericksson Ek shot slid all the way along, but not over, the goal line.
But good fortune smiled a few minutes later to knot the game at 2-2.
Faber was crashing to the net and took a pass from Marco Rossi. Faber’s shot went over the net, hit the glass above the end boards and caromed back into the crease. As Hellebuyck scrambled to get back into position, the puck appeared to deflect off the goalie’s skate and into the net. It was Faber’s first goal of the season.
The second period ended with boos raining down on the officiating crew, and Matt Boldy in the penalty box. In the final seconds of the period, Boldly took a swipe at the puck while racing with Jets defenseman Dylan DeMelo. The puck bounced up and hit DeMelo in the face, and a referee whistled Boldy for high sticking, although replay revealed at no time did Boldy’s stick touch DeMelo.
After what can best be described as a make-up call gave the Wild a third period power play, Faber’s long shot was stopped by Hellebuyck. But the loose puck in the crease deflected off the knee pad of a Jets defender and in. Johansson was the closest Wild player to the puck and got credit for the goal — his fourth in the past three games.
Hellebuyck finished with 33 saves for the Jets, who will host the Wild on Nov. 23 in Manitoba.
The Wild’s six-game homestand rolls along with the Pittsburgh Penguins making their only trip of the season to Minnesota on Thursday.
Briefly
As a part of their season-long 25th anniversary celebration, the Wild wore replica jerseys, pants and socks similar to those the team sported when they entered the NHL as an expansion team for the 2000-01 season. Dropping the ceremonial first puck before the game was a quartet of Wild players from the 2000s – Marian Gaborik, Brian Rolston, Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Stephane Vellieux.
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