Wild rebound against Jets in Game 3 behind Parise, Staal

The Minnesota Wild made their stand at home in Game 3 of the Western Conference First Round against the Winnipeg Jets, and nobody should be surprised at who made plays at the key times.

Forward Zach Parise tipped in a shot for the go-ahead power-play goal late in the first period, and center Eric Staal scored the first of three Minnesota goals in the final 5:20 of the second, helping the Wild to a 6-2 win at Xcel Energy Center on Sunday.
The Jets lead the best-of-7 series 2-1 with Game 4 here Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; CNBC, SN, TVAS2, FS-N).
WATCH: [All Jets vs. Wild Game 3 highlights | Complete Jets vs. Wild series coverage]
Game 3 was chaotic in the first period with three penalties for each team, and Parise scored at 17:40 to give the Wild a 2-1 lead. Battling for position at the top of the crease, Parise pushed off Winnipeg defenseman Josh Morrissey at precisely the right time to create the sliver of space he needed to redirect a Mikko Koivu pass from the right circle for his third goal of the series.
It was a moment of veteran savvy and seemingly confidence for the Wild, who were desperate to establish some belief in this series after losing of 3-2 and 4-1 in the first two games at Winnipeg.

The next impact play came from Staal.
The Jets had cut it to 3-2 with a goal by defenseman Tyler Myers at 6:42 of the second period and were beginning to create shots and chances.
When Minnesota's Mikael Granlund intercepted a clearing attempt along the right-wing boards by Winnipeg defenseman Dustin Byfuglien, he turned, spun and passed to Staal, who was skating toward the Jets net.
Staal, who led the Wild with 42 goals during the regular season, quickly snapped a high shot over the shoulder of Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck and under the crossbar at 14:40 for his first goal of the series and a 4-2 lead.
Staal's contribution was of particular importance to Minnesota coach Bruce Boudreau.

"Well, you know that when he's going, usually the rest of the team is going, and I thought we got really good games from our big players," Boudreau said. "Mikko played really solid, and Eric played really solid. And then [Matt] Dumba-[Jonas] Brodin ... I could mention all the defense, I thought (they) were really good."
Staal, who did not have a point in the first two games, was more like himself Sunday.
"That was a huge game, we knew that, everybody knew that coming in," said Staal, who had an assist on Granlund's power-play goal in the first period.
"I thought our emotional level was real high, the building was energetic and we got to the gritty areas and got the job done. The best part is, you've got to recharge tomorrow and bring your same type of energy and excitement to Game 4 because that's another huge, huge game for us."

Minnesota then scored two more goals in the second, by Jordan Greenway and Marcus Foligno, in completing a strong turnaround at home. The Wild were nearly even in shots (31-29 for the Jets) after being outshot 84-37 through two games.
Home ice has made a big difference for the Wild this season; they went 27-6-8 at Xcel Energy Center with the fewest home regulation losses in the NHL and the second-most home points (62) behind the Jets (66).
Minnesota will aim for another strong effort here Tuesday, something its veteran leaders showed in Game 3 was possible even after the disappointment of the first two games.