The Minnesota Wild came into Saturday’s game with the Winnipeg Jets looking to avenge a 6-0 loss on their home ice just two weeks ago. After a strong start, the Wild pulled off a come from behind victory that resulted in their first overtime win of the season in a 3-2 victory over the Jets on Saturday afternoon.
Unlike their last meeting with Winnipeg, the Wild got off to a fast start and created a scoring opportunity within the first minute of the game. After some beautiful passing from Luke Kunin, Joel Erikson Ek drove to the net for a backhand feed that found Marcus Foligno for his fifth goal of the season and an early lead for the Wild.
Tape-to-tape the whole way 😲
🚨 @mnwild 🚨 pic.twitter.com/V7MTWwINkh
— FanDuel Sports Network North (@FanDuelSN_NOR) January 4, 2020
After the Wild went into the first intermission with the one-goal advantage, they found themselves in the penalty box early in the second period. The Jets capitalized quickly on Kevin Fiala’s holding penalty with Mark Scheifele’s 20th goal of the season to tie the game.
The rest of the second period was a strange trip for the Wild as they committed two double minors for high sticking and while the Jets couldn’t put one past Devan Dubnyk before the second intermission, the penalty on Jordan Greenway bled into the third period which led to Blake Wheeler’s 20th goal of the season to give the Jets a third-period lead.
Down 2-1, the Wild became aggressive and started pushing Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck, sending bodies to the net and nearly doubling Winnipeg in shots on goal. The Wild finally broke through late in regulation as Luke Kunin chucked a shot past Hellebuyck to tie the game and eventually send it to overtime.
THE PASS 😲
THE SHOT 😱
TIE GAME 🥳 pic.twitter.com/fzOYtOcap3
— FanDuel Sports Network North (@FanDuelSN_NOR) January 4, 2020
In the extra frame, the Wild earned a 4-on-3 thanks to a slashing penalty on Wheeler. After a timeout by Bruce Boudreau, Ryan Suter threw a puck at the net and the deflection landed on the stick of Eric Staal for his 16th goal of the year, giving the Wild their first overtime victory of the season in five games.
STAAL WINS IT!
STAAL WINS IT!
STAAL WINS IT!#mnwild pic.twitter.com/ljMW5wYYI6— FanDuel Sports Network North (@FanDuelSN_NOR) January 4, 2020
The win also brought the Wild within three points of the Jets for the second wild card spot in the Western Conference. Minnesota will look to continue its momentum when they host the Calgary Flames on Sunday night.
