Jets within whisker of win

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This article was published 17/11/2014 (3971 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — One team showed up a little late. The other appeared to be leaving the Xcel Energy Center a little early.

How else to explain the wild swings that eventually ended with the Minnesota Wild’s 4-3 overtime victory over the Winnipeg Jets before 18,808 at Xcel Energy Center, many of them from Winnipeg.

Minnesota dominated the Jets over the first 20 minutes, digging a 3-0 hole for the visitors that smart money would have said would not be overcome.

‘You get in at 1 o’clock in the morning and whoever had the idea that a 4 o’clock start made sense in the NHL has never played a game in the NHL, or coached one for that matter’

— Jets coach Paul Maurice, not happy about the scheduling

But overcome it the Jets did, firing back with three goals in less than five minutes in the third, and then coming within a whisker — twice — of winning the game in regulation by clanking two shots off the post with the game at 3-3.

The final decision was courtesy of Minnesota’s Marco Scandella, who snapped an overtime shot from the point through a screen, saving face on what might have been a colossal Central Division collapse.

Minnesota got both ends of its back-to-back games inside the division this weekend, pulling up to 20 points.

The Jets scrounged up one point from theirs after a nail-biting late loss Saturday in Nashville, and arrive home for a three-game homestand with 21 points.

CUE THE COMEBACK

Zach Parise, returning from a five-game absence because of a concussion, got right to work, scoring two of Minnesota’s three markers in the first. Nino Niederreiter had the other as the Wild opened with a power-play goal just two minutes in.

Michael Hutchinson took over for Ondrej Pavelec after 20 minutes and after a chippy second period full of penalties, the Jets seemed energized — even at the end of a five-game road trip and a span of nine road games out of 11 — and were clearly still interested in the result.

They got goals from Michael Frolik at 5:55, a corner-banker from Evander Kane at 8:19 and an Andrew Ladd deflection at 10:47 to actually chase starter Niklas Backstrom from the game.

Moments after that, Matt Halischuk and Blake Wheeler rattled separate chances off the post behind reliever Darcy Kuemper, but neither puck would go.

SCHEIFELE SIDELINED

Jets centre Mark Scheifele had to leave the game at 9:19 of the second period and could not return.

He appeared to be favouring his right knee after a domino collision in the offensive zone. Teammate Jacob Trouba knocked Minnesota’s Erik Haula to the ice and Haula fell on the back of Scheifele’s legs.

Jets coach Paul Maurice could provide no update after the game.

“Nothing yet. We’ll see,” was all he said.

ROAD WORK

On their five-game road trip that ended Sunday, Winnipeg posted a 2-2-1 mark and comes home for three games with a 9-7-3 record.

On the wider scope, where the team played nine of 11 away from home over a 20-day span, the Jets more than survived what’s likely the most onerous stretch of games all season by recording a 6-2-3 chart in that time.

Sunday’s overtime point marked just the sixth time the Jets have scored more than two goals in a game in the 18 games after their opening-night 6-2 win in Arizona.

CROSS WORDS

Jets coach Paul Maurice, apart from raving about his team’s pluckiness on Sunday, ripped into the NHL schedule-maker for the day’s agenda that saw the Jets playing a late-afternoon game after playing in Nashville on Saturday night.

The Wild also played a road game on Saturday, in Dallas, but it was an afternoon start.

“You get in at 1 o’clock in the morning and whoever had the idea that a 4 o’clock start made sense in the NHL has never played a game in the NHL, or coached one for that matter,” Maurice said.

The coach also pointed a finger in that direction in the matter of Scheifele’s injury.

“I’m not going to complain anymore,” he said. “Those kind of injuries start happening when you stress bodies the way we had to.”

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca