Jets clinch final playoff berth in West with win against Wild

ST. PAUL, Minn. --The Winnipeg Jets clinched the final Stanley Cup Playoff berth from the Western Conference with a 3-1 win against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday.

"I know people had written us off there for a while," Winnipeg coach Rick Bowness said "We just fought through it. Every team that gets into the playoffs at this time of year … you've got to fight through some adversity. You've got to fight through some second-guessing, and that's fine. That's all part of our business, but again, give our players full marks because they stayed focused on the process of what we had to do, game in and game out, to get us into the playoffs. So good for them."

Adam Lowry, Mark Scheifele, and Mason Appleton scored for the Jets (46-32-3), who have won three straight and will finish as the second wild card. Connor Hellebuyck, who was making his 13th straight start, made 33 saves.
"That was a huge game. It's a big feeling," Scheifele said. "We did it on our own. We didn't wait for other things to happen. We handled it tonight and it feels good."
Kirill Kaprizov scored his 40th goal of the season for the Wild (46-25-10), who will finish in third place in the Central Division. Marc-Andre Fleury made 17 saves.
"Definitely (a) better effort, (a) full 60 minutes," Fleury said. "They got some lucky bounces in the first there. We had a few posts, a few knobs. Could have been a little different game, but definitely better."

Lowry gave Winnipeg a 1-0 lead at 3:53 of the first period, scoring into an open net after Nino Niederreiter's spinning shot in the slot deflected off Jake Middleton to him in the bottom of the left face-off circle.
Scheifele made it 2-0 at 13:10. Nate Schmidt's initial shot was saved by Fleury, but the rebound deflected to the right post, where Scheifele batted it forward and into another open net.
"I play with some really good players that get me the puck in good situations," said Scheifele, who has scored 42 goals this season. "Just got to keep it going."
Minnesota outshot Winnipeg 12-4 in the first.
"Yeah, we got two really bad bounces for the first two goals, right? They had four shots and two goals," Wild coach Dean Evason said. "We had to start behind the eight ball, but we competed and we played right. We didn't catch a couple of bounces, but we had lots of real good opportunities. We played a real strong game. They did. It was a good hockey game."

Kaprizov cut it to 2-1 with a power-play goal at 1:59 of the third period. Hellebuyck made the initial save on John Klingberg's shot, but the rebound kicked out to Kaprizov, who scored with a backhand in front.
Appleton extended the lead to 3-1 at 14:06, lifting a shot over Fleury's glove after a pass by Morgan Barron from below the goal line slid under the goalie's stick.
Hellebuyck kept it a two-goal game with 2:22 remaining when he lunged back with his stick to deny Mats Zuccarello a point-blank shot into an open net.
"That one felt pretty good, I'll tell you that," Hellebuyck said. "We battled our adversity. It might have taken us a little bit longer, but I think we figured ourselves out. We have the character in the room, and now we know what our game is. To come out and show it through this stretch is huge."
NOTES:Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers left the game at 11:31 of the third period following a hit in the neutral zone by Ryan Hartman, which resulted in an interference penalty. There was no update postgame. … Wild forward Sam Steel left after the second period because of an illness, and forward Marcus Johansson left with 46 seconds left in regulation following a cross-check from Winnipeg defenseman Neal Pionk, which resulted in a major penalty. There was no update postgame on Johansson. … Kaprizov is the first player in Wild history to have multiple seasons with at least 40 goals (47 last season).