Jets top Wild in Game 1 for first playoff win in franchise history

WINNIPEG -- Joe Morrow broke a tie in the third period, and the Winnipeg Jets won their first Stanley Cup Playoff game in franchise history, 3-2 against the Minnesota Wild in Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round at Bell MTS Place on Wednesday.
Morrow scored his first NHL playoff goal at 12:47 on a point shot that deflected off the stick of Wild forward Charlie Coyle for a 3-2 lead.

"That's the majority of the reason you play hockey as a kid is to come and play in the playoffs, play for the Stanley Cup and getting an opportunity to score a goal like that," Morrow said. "So, to say it's a dream come true is a pretty big understatement."
Game 2 of the best-of-7 series is here Friday (7:30 p.m. ET; USA, SN, TVAS2, FS-N).
WATCH: [All Wild vs. Jets highlights | Complete Jets vs. Wild series coverage]
Mark Scheifele and Patrik Laine also scored, and Connor Hellebuyck made 18 saves for his first NHL playoff win.
Matt Cullen and Zach Parise scored for the Wild, and Devan Dubnyk made 37 saves.

"They were aggressive," Parise said. "They were aggressive all over the ice. I think when we didn't get it behind them that's when we let them keep coming back at us. That would be my guess as to what happened because I thought for a little while we had a good stretch of shifts in the [offensive] zone and some chances. We have to remind ourselves to keep getting it below the goal line and make smart plays."
Scheifele gave the Jets a 1-0 lead on the power play, scoring his first NHL playoff goal on a one-timer from the slot at 17:37 of the second period after Nate Prosser took a holding penalty.
Cullen tied it 1-1 at 1:46 of the third period, his 19th playoff goal, converting on a one-timer in the slot.
Parise gave the Wild a 2-1 lead 2:12 later, tapping in a cross-ice pass from Mikael Granlund at 3:58.

"I think we took a breath," Cullen said. "I think we thought about defending as opposed to continuing to go at them. And they started coming. Obviously, they're down a goal in the third period, they're going to start pushing. That combination never works, and we know that. It just bit us. It's a missed opportunity."
Laine tied it 2-2 at 4:51, scoring his first NHL playoff goal on a wrist shot from the slot.
"I saw that Parise was trying to block [Dubnyk's] blocker side and I just tried to shoot past his leg and I think I hit a pretty good spot," Laine said. "It was hard to catch."

Goal of the game

Morrow's goal at 12:47 of the third period.

Save of the game

Hellebuyck's save on Mikko Koivu at 14:59 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Laine's goal at 4:51 of the third period.

They said it

"We have to see that we're able to win like that, and that's how we're going to need to win in this building. When we go home, it's a different story. We can push the envelope a little bit at home. We were solid. We weren't giving them turnovers on the rush and give them stuff to feel good. They're a deep forward group. They're going to get their chances. They're going to get their shots. But that's how we're going to need to play in this building, and I thought that we did that for 45 minutes." -- Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk
"Nothing changed on the bench. The next guys over the boards had a job to do and then they did it and very quickly we got that game back to tied, which was real important to solidify the idea of something I think you've worked hard at all year, of playing the same shift after a goal." -- Jets coach Paul Maurice after going down 2-1

Need to know

The Jets/Atlanta Thrashers franchise had been 0-8 in the postseason. The Thrashers were swept by the New York Rangers in the 2007 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, and the Jets were swept by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2015 Western Conference First Round. … Laine (19 years, 357 days) is the youngest player in franchise history to score a playoff goal, surpassing Adam Lowry (22 years, 18 days in 2015). … Laine is also the youngest Finland-born player in NHL history to score a goal in the playoffs, surpassing Hannu Virta (20 years, 31 days in 1983). … Jets forward Mathieu Perreault left in the second period because of an upper-body injury. There was no update. … Jets defenseman Ben Chiarot had 10 hits. … Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon returned after missing 12 games because of a partially torn hamstring. He had two hits and was minus-1 in 20:19. ... Wild defenseman Matt Dumba played a game-high 30:03.

What's next

Game 2 of Western Conference First Round at Bell MTS Place on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET; USA, SN, TVAS2, FS-N)