A line-up shuffle in the second period resulted in Winnipeg's lone goal in the game, as Kyle Connor notched his sixth goal of the season with Mikey Eyssimont picking up his first career assist, just one game after registering his first NHL goal.
The tally made it 3-1, and it looked like the Jets might rally, but Minnesota pulled away with three goals in the third.
"It's tough to get on a run in this league, but the great teams are consistent," said Connor. "They show up every night. A couple nights it may not go their way, but the majority of the nights you're in the fight every night. That's what we're striving to be."
It was just Winnipeg's second loss to a divisional opponent this season in seven games. Head coach Rick Bowness felt his team could have been far more disciplined, as the five power plays the Jets gave up were the most of the season so far.
"There are different forms of discipline. It's not just the penalties," said Bowness. "It's the turnovers. It's the penalties at the wrong time. It's all those little things that caught up to us tonight."
Minnesota outshot the Jets 16-6 in the opening period, but only one got by the busy Hellebuyck. Mason Shaw's wrister from the left boards popped off Hellebuyck, and then Morrissey, before dribbling over the line 8:20 into the first.
Manitoban Calen Addison benefitted from a bounce as well, as his point shot bounced off Hellebuyck's shoulder, went up in the air, and dribbled over the line. Marcus Foligno then buried a rebound 1:08 later to make it 3-0.
"One of the things we talked about after the game is these teams are chasing us now," said Bowness. "two things with that. Take pride in the fact that you're there. But also take the responsibility that comes with being on a good team. There's a responsibility that comes with that."
Connor's goal came near the end of some sustained pressure for the Jets. Bowness had put Connor with Pierre-Luc Dubois and Sam Gagner, while Mark Scheifele skated with Blake Wheeler and Cole Perfetti.
With the Wild hemmed in their zone, Connor snapped a wrister past Filip Gustavsson to make it 3-1 with 5:42 remaining in the second.
It was a chance to flip the script from Monday's win over Carolina, where the Jets saw a 3-0 lead evaporate as the Hurricanes rallied back to tie.
"You think you have an entire (third) period to come back and get two goals, if we play like that for another 20 minutes we give ourselves a shot," said Schmidt.
But it wasn't to be.
Kirill Kaprizov flipped home a power play marker 28 seconds into the third, Foligno added his second of the game off the Wheeler turnover, and then Matt Boldy finished off a passing play for Minnesota's second goal on the man advantage of the period.
The score went from 3-1 to 6-1, and now the Jets are left to learn from a real tough night before another Central clash on Friday in Dallas.
"You have to understand what the league can do to you if you come in and you're not ready," said Schmidt. "When you don't play good for 50 minutes it doesn't give you a good chance to win. You have to make sure you learn from it."
