Nino Niederreiter scored twice and the Winnipeg Jets defeated the visiting Minnesota Wild 4-2 on Saturday to extend their point streak to seven games.
Alex Iafallo and Axel Jonsson-Fjallby also scored for the Jets, who are amid a 5-0-2 stretch. Niederreiter, meanwhile, recorded his second multi-point effort in three games for the Jets, who improved to 6-0-1 at home this month.
Ryan Hartman scored in his fourth straight contest for Minnesota, which had its four-game winning streak end. Filip Gustavsson stopped 19 of 22 shots through two periods, but did not come out for the third, with no official word given for the move. He was replaced by Marc-Andre Fleury, who saved 9 of 10 in career-game 999.
Down 3-1, the Wild scored 20 seconds into the third period when Matt Boldy got the puck past Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck (34 saves) after it caromed off the end board. However, the Jets restored their two-goal lead a little more than 2:20 later when Jonsson-Fjallby sent in a behind-the-net pass from Dominic Toninato.
The Jets opened the scoring 3:59 into the game when Iafallo slapped at a bouncing puck that deflected off the body of Minnesota defenseman Jared Spurgeon, then the skate blade of Gustavsson, before trickling over the goal line.
After surviving some sustained pressure by the Wild, Winnipeg went up 2-0 with 5:22 remaining in the first. After a successful end-board battle, Adam Lowry didn’t convert his wraparound attempt, but Niederreiter did off the rebound.
Niederreiter made it 3-0 at the 6:45 mark of the second period. This time he grabbed Morrissey’s shot toward the net and beat Gustavsson at close range.
Minnesota finally scored via the power play with 9:55 remaining in the middle frame. On some nifty passing, starting with Frederick Gaudreau at the point, then down to Marcus Johansson, who slapped a cross-crease pass for Hartman to bury the one-timer.
The teams will meet again Sunday at Saint Paul, Minn.
–Field Level Media
