Wild score four in third period to defeat Jets

The Minnesota Wild scored four goals in the third period for a 4-2 win against the Winnipeg Jets at Xcel Energy Center on Friday.

The Wild (14-7-2) trailed 2-0 in the second period.
Nino Niederreiter made it 2-1 at 3:06 of the third period before Eric Fehr tied it 2-2 at 11:47. Eric Staal scored to make it 3-2 at 17:29, and Zach Parise scored into an empty net at 18:51 to make it 4-2.
WATCH: [All Jets vs. Wild highlights]
"Two good teams, it was competitive the whole night, a fun game to be a part of," Staal said. "Being down like we were, to be able to come back adds a little bit more emotion and energy to it within our building at home. I thought we played hard all night, competed, and we were just fortunate to be on the right side of it at the end."

Patrik Laine extended his point streak to four games with a goal, and Nikolaj Ehlers scored for the Jets (12-7-2), who lost consecutive games for the first time this season. Connor Hellebuyck made 35 saves.
"We kind of let the game get away from us," Jets forward Adam Lowry said. "They got a couple of good bounces and that's the difference tonight … we weren't ourselves in the third."
Alex Stalock made 26 saves for Minnesota in place of Devan Dubnyk, who was scheduled to start but was scratched with an illness.

Winnipeg won seven of nine games against Minnesota last season, including a five-game series in the Western Conference First Round.
"You see right there, it ramps in a hurry," Stalock said. "It's a team ... they had our number last year. We wanted to get back and establish that we're the better team. We're going to play them in the [Stanley Cup Playoffs] at some point, so why not start now."
Laine scored his 14th goal of the season at 16:50 of the first period to make it 1-0. He has six goals and one assist during his streak.
Ehlers made it 2-0 on a wrist shot from the right circle on the power play with 1:03 left in the second period.
"The sky isn't falling," Jets captain Blake Wheeler said. "On the road, there's going to be momentum changes. They're probably going to score a goal, more than likely, and we've got to face that adversity and do a little better with that."

They said it

"I thought our special teams were pretty good tonight but we've got to get a flow going, and it's hard to get that momentum going when we're constantly killing it." -- Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck
"We told him he had to play like a fourth liner. Dump pucks in and retrieve them. He did a great job. He was hard on pucks, and when you have a guy like that who can come across the [blue line], it always helps." -- Wild forward Eric Fehr on forward Nino Niederreiter, who had a goal and an assist after being demoted to the fourth line

Need to know

Jets forward Andrew Copp left the game in the third period after a hit from Wild forward JT Brown. Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice said Copp went through concussion protocol but did not have an update on his status. ... Laine has six goals in his past three games. ... Wild defenseman Mathew Dumba had two assists to extend his point streak to six games (nine points; five goals, four assists). ... Little has four points (one goal, three assists) in his past four games. ... The Wild were 0-for-6 on the power play. … Wild forward Mikko Koivu had a five-game point streak end (eight points; two goals, six assists). ... Minnesota recalled goalie Kaapo Kahkonen on an emergency basis from Iowa of the American Hockey League on Friday. He backed up Stalock and was sent back to Iowa afterward.

What's next

Jets: At the St. Louis Blues on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; SN360, CITY, FS-MW, NHL.TV)
Wild: Host the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; FS-N, FS-A PLUS, NHL.TV)