The Minnesota Wild’s offense erupted for the first time in a long time, but the defense took a back seat for a fourth straight game as the Jets topped the Wild, 6-4 Friday night in Winnipeg.
Minnesota and Winnipeg combined for seven goals in a back-and-forth first period.
Dany Heatley put the Wild on the board first with his eighth goal of the year just 2:13 into the game. Less than two minutes later the Jets tied it up on a shorthanded goal by Evander Kane.
Less than three minutes later the Jets beat Niklas Backstrom again on a snap shot by Olli Jokinen.
57 seconds later the Wild tied the scored at two thanks to a goal by Justin Fontaine. Stephane Veilleux scored 10 seconds later to put the Wild up, 3-2.
…Breathe for a seven minutes…
Former Gopher Blake Wheeler found the back of the net at the 14:50 mark of the first to tie the game again, and Dustin Byfuglien’s goal on a sloppy rebound gave Winnipeg a 4-3 lead just three minutes later.
The second period was much better for Backstrom, who stopped all 10 shots he faced in the second.
A power play goal by Mikko Koivu tied the game, 4-all just 3:40 into the period, but that’s all the scoring there would be in the second.
Wheeler tipped in his second goal of the game midway through the third period, and it turned out to be the game-winner.
The Jets outshot the Wild, 37-28.
The Wild went 0-4 on the road trip, allowing a total of 19 goals.
