Winning streak continues as Jets steamroll Wild

ST. PAUL, Minn. — From fragile to ferocious. Slumping to surging. Dormant to dominant.

Oh, what a difference a week can make for the Winnipeg Jets.

Three straight wins against average opponents on home ice had stopped the bleeding and snapped an 11-game slide. That was notable enough.

What happened Thursday night here in St. Paul was something else entirely. The Jets didn’t just beat the Minnesota Wild, who are one of the NHL’s top teams. They steamrolled them, delivering a 6-2 dismantling that looked every bit like a statement.

To themselves. And, perhaps, the rest of the league.

“Everyone’s firing on all cylinders,” said centre Mark Scheifele, who led the way with a goal and three assists.

“Guys are making plays, holding on to pucks, just kind of doing what’s needed, making the play in front of them. It’s been a great team effort. And just gotta keep going.

Six different players lit the lamp and 10 skaters recorded at least a point. Jonathan Toews, Gabe Vilardi and Josh Morrissey each had a goal and an assist, while Tanner Pearson and Logan Stanley had the other tallies.

Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, who hasn’t looked like his usual Vezina Trophy-self lately, was terrific in stopping 32 of 34 shots he’s faced. He was especially solid in the opening 13 minutes of the game, with the Jets seemingly half-asleep and outshot 9-0.

“They have a history, especially in this building, of coming out strong in the first periods and we needed Helle, as he had to make a couple of stops, and we kind of weathered the storm,” said Jets coach Scott Arniel.

That bought the visitors some valuable time to spring to life, including goals at 19:49 and 19:57 of the opening frame to make it 3-0.

“Just to get those two quick ones like that really quieted the crowd but it also got us feeling pretty good about ourselves, and we had a really good second,” said Arniel.

Winnipeg struck three more times in the second period to blow it wide open, chasing rookie sensation Jesper Wallstedt from the Minnesota net.

“This is a tough building to go into against a really good team, so just to get the win in this building is huge,” said Scheifele.

“And obviously, we had a kind of a junky start, but from there we kept working and kept doing the right things, just kind of making the play in front of you and we got rewarded.”

Winnipeg improves to 19-22-5, winning in enemy territory for the first time since Nov. 29 in Nashville — a span of 10 games. They did extend another quirky streak, skating to a sixth straight victory at Grand Casino Arena dating back to 2023.

Minnesota falls to 26-13-9.

MEMO TO TEAM CANADA: It’s hard to believe the Team Canada couldn’t find a spot for Scheifele at the upcoming Winter Olympics.

Winnipeg’s top centre continues to have a career year, now up to 58 points through 46 games after the 13th four-point outing of his career. That has him seventh in NHL scoring, and fourth among all Canadian players trailing only Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Macklin Celebrini.

“Everyone in here gets to see him every day and how hard he works and how much he cares about getting better in the game that he plays,” said Stanley.

“And he takes a lot of pride in being a 200-foot player, winning face-offs, obviously his offensive game is amazing and it’s just cool to see how hard he works at it, and you know hard work pays off. But great teammate, great player, and I really wish he was on the team.”

Scheifele is on the stand-by list in case of injury, and it’s noteworthy that projected top-six forward Brayden Point recently suffered a lower-body injury. He’s considered week-to-week at this point, and you have to wonder if Scheifele might not be first up to fill that spot should it come available.

Games like Thursday night certainly help the cause.

JOHNNY ON THE SPOT: There were a lot of hot takes about Toews as he struggled through the first half of his season — with some suggesting Father Time had passed him by.

But the five-day Christmas break has clearly done wonders for the 37-year-old, who now has points in 8 of the 11 games he’s played since. That includes goals in four straight outings, the latest coming at 14:08 of the first period.

It came with the Jets enjoying an extended 5-on-3 power play after penalties to Matt Boldy (high-sticking) and Marcus Foligno (tripping) just 32 seconds apart.

Not only did it give the Jets a 1-0 lead, it was Toews’ 900th career point — a remarkable milestone for the man formerly known as “Captain Serious.” Toews then added No. 901 when he assisted on Morrissey’s buzzer-beater at the end of the first period, which came after he won the offensive zone faceoff against Ben Jones.

“Nine-hundred points, that’s obviously amazing. He’s feeling it, which is awesome,” said Arniel. “It took him a while to find his legs, to find his place and his game. Now you see it and he’s getting the reward from it.”

Toews is up to 18 points (7G, 11A) through 46 games.

“He’s been incredible lately,” said Scheifele. “We love having him on the power play. He’s been great there. And, I think he’s just going to continue to get more and more comfortable. And it’s been awesome watching him and learning from him.”

THE STANIMAL: Stanley is going to get paid this summer.

The pending unrestricted free agent couldn’t pick a better time to go on an offensive heater. He’s now up to eight goals this year — seven more than his previous career best — and it says here all of them have been highlight-reel.

Stanley unleashed a rocket of a slapper that went off the crossbar and in, making sure to use his hand to signal it was a good goal during his celebration.

“Some of the boys were still playing. I was just trying to let him know it was in,” Stanley joked afterwards.

The 6-7 blueliner is a unique player, with a long reach and physical side now complemented by an offensive surge.

“Not gonna lie. I’ve always seen it in him,” said Scheifele.

“I’ve always been a big Stan fan. He’s been a guy that I love to work on things with and see him grow. And, I’m like a proud dad for him. He’s been, it’s been awesome to watch, and that’s the thing. He makes even a lot of little plays, not just on the goals that are amazing and make it a pleasure to be on the ice with him. So, you know, I saw it in him.

KEY PLAY: Morrissey’s goal with three seconds left in the first period made it 3-0 and had Wild fans booing their team off the ice. It ended up being the game-winner.

THREE STARS:

1. WPG C Mark Scheifele: 1 goal, 3 assists

2. WPG D Josh Morrissey: 1 goal, 1 assist

3. WPG C Jonathan Toews: 1 goal, 1 assist

EXTRA, EXTRA: The Jets and Wild ended up splitting their four-game season series, with the visiting team winning every time.

Winnipeg won the special teams battle in a big way, going 2-for-4 on the power play and killing off all three penalties they took.

Jets forward Morgan Barron returned to the lineup after missing three games with an upper-body injury, drawing the primary assist on Pearson’s goal with 11 seconds left in the second period. Rookie forward Danny Zhilkin came out of the lineup as a healthy scratch, joining Gustav Nyquist and Isaak Phillips in that department.

Elias Salomonsson played his fifth career NHL game, replacing the injured Neal Pionk in a pairing with Dylan Samberg. He had an efficient night, playing 18:45 (third among all defencemen) with two shots on goal, a block, a takeaway and going plus-one.

Pionk, along with fellow blue-liners Haydn Fleury and Colin Miller, are all out week-to-week.

The Jets flew home immediately following the game and will face the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night at Canada Life Centre.

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