Wild score twice late in third period to defeat Jets

WINNIPEG -- The Minnesota Wild scored two goals in 26 seconds late in the third period to defeat the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 at Bell MTS Place on Tuesday.

Joel Eriksson Ek scored with 1:01 remaining to make it 3-2 after Jason Zucker scored on the power play with 1:27 left to tie the game 2-2. Jets coach Paul Maurice challenged for goaltender interference on the Eriksson Ek goal, but it was upheld after video review.
"I think we played pretty well and goalie Devan Dubnyk] was making some great saves for us," Eriksson Ek said. "We battled through and Zucker did a great goal for us and we just had a good bounce."
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Dubnyk made 30 saves for the Wild (31-27-6), who won their fourth straight game and are one point ahead of the Dallas Stars for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
"I think the way we played tonight, the guys battled," Minnesota defenseman Brad Hunt said. "No matter what the score was, we battled the whole game. It's a great job at the end. We didn't quit. We stuck with it. I think when you're on a little bit of a run like this, you get the team confidence where you feel no matter what you're going to come out on top. The guys did just a great job."

Patrik Laine had a goal and an assist, and Connor Hellebuyck made 36 saves for the Jets (37-22-4), who have lost five of their past six. Winnipeg is 0-4-0 against Minnesota this season.
"It's obviously not a good finish," Laine said. "That can't happen. I think we played some good hockey until the tying goal. After that, we let it go for a bit, they scored two. That was kind of the turning point of this game. We can't let it happen."
The Jets are second in the Central Division, one point behind the Nashville Predators, who lost 2-0 at the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.
"It's hard for us right now," Winnipeg captain Blake Wheeler said. "We spend a lot of the game not necessarily playing well, but doing enough to keep them kind of out of the danger zones and the wheels fall off at the end."
Mark Scheifele gave the Jets a 1-0 lead on the power play at 8:53 of the first period, slipping a shot five-hole. It was his first point in six games.

Hunt tied the game 1-1 on the power play at 11:50 of the second period with a wrist shot from the top of the slot.
The Jets regained the lead when Ben Chiarot's shot from the slot deflected off Laine's leg 14 seconds later to make it 2-1.
Forward Kevin Fiala had three shots on goal in 17:14 in his Wild debut. He was acquired in a trade from the Predators for forward Mikael Granlund on Monday.
"It's just a different system," Fiala said. "It's going to take time a little bit. I felt fine today. The guys helped me a lot on the ice, too, you know. They made it easier for me, for sure."
Forward Kevin Hayes had one shot on goal in 15:54 in his Jets debut. He was acquired Monday in a trade from the New York Rangers for forward Brendan Lemieux, a first-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft and a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft.
"Definitely a lot of emotions out there at the beginning, I was nervous," Hayes said. "After the first couple shifts, I felt pretty good. My linemates played good, got trapped in the D zone sometimes, but overall it was a pretty good night. It was a lot of fun."

They said it

"The pace I thought was really fast, and when we can keep up with the pace it gives you a lot of confidence because there's a lot of fast teams, not too many faster than Winnipeg, and they're coming at you four lines deep. It gives you confidence that you can play with the big boys a little bit." -- Wild coach Bruce Boudreau
"We know about Kevin [Hayes], so we kind of expected that game from him. Real good on the face-offs. Early, especially, I thought their line had some good action. (Defenseman) Nathan [Beaulieu], I really liked his game. Strong, simple, which kind of stood out tonight." -- Jets coach Paul Maurice

Need to know

Beaulieu had two shots on goal and two hits in 15:28 in his Jets debut. He was acquired in a trade from the Buffalo Sabres on Monday. … Forward Ryan Donato, acquired in a trade from the Boston Bruins on Feb. 20, has had at least one point in his first four games with the Wild (one goal, five assists). Only Pavol Demitra (six games, 2006-07) and Zach Parise (five games, 2012-13) have had longer point streaks to begin a Minnesota career. … Parise (one goal, four assists) and Eric Staal (one goal, five assists) each extended his point streak to four games. ... Dubnyk has won his past four starts, allowing six goals during that span. … Laine has four goals and two assists during a four-game point streak. … Jets forward Kyle Connor has two goals and three assists during a four-game point streak.

What's next

Wild: At the Calgary Flames on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN, SN360, SN1, CITY, FS-N, NHL.TV)
Jets: Host the Nashville Predators on Friday (8 p.m. ET; TSN3, FS-TN, NHL.TV)