Minnesota Wild Beat The Winnipeg Jets in Grinder, Snap Losing Streak
98. Final. 2. 107. 3
I said it on Saturday and I’ll say it again. The Minnesota Wild and Winnipeg Jets are building one of the best rivalries in the National Hockey League. Tonight, in a penalty riddled game, the Wild prevailed in Tyler Graovac’s NHL debut.
Good Evening, Minnesota Wild fans. The Minnesota Wild wrapped up a home-and-home with the Winnipeg Jets at the MTS Centre tonight. Just watching and listening to the game, you can hear the energy from the fans in Winnipeg. It’s something to be admired, truly. A 3-goal 2nd period helped the Minnesota Wild beat the Winnipeg Jets. Playing without Mikael Granlund (wrist surgery), Jonas Brodin (upper-body injury), and Jason Zucker; the Wild ground out a win to take a 4-point swing on the Winnipeg Jets.
On your way to the recap, don’t forget to check out Tyler’s game preview and Dustin’s coverage of the emerging Tyler Graovac.
First Period:
The Wild definitely played like they were trying to keep their season alive.
Despite jumping out to 5-0 lead in shots on goal, the Wild was unable to unlock the stingy Michael Hutchinson. Hutchinson and Darcy Kuemper are the same age, come from a similar pedigree, and play a completely different style. Hutchinson is stingy with rebounds and controls the puck really well. Kuemper comes out to challenge goal scorers and moves the puck to the walls on rebounds. Very different styles, but both promising.
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Midway through the first, Thomas Vanek drew a penalty and sent the Wild to its first power play. After just one shot on goal, Mikko Koivu was assessed a minor for holding T.J. Galiardi. On the replay, Galiardi actually held Koivu’s stick first.
During the 4-on-4, a unit the Wild need to work on, Kuemper’s rebound control nearly bit him; kicking an Andrew Ladd rebound right on to the stick of Bryan Little. Luckily for the Wild, Little whiffed on his attempt at a defenseless Kuemper.
Nino Niederreiter sent the Jets to their first full power play, and they took full advantage of the extra attacker. Michael Frolik picked up a loose puck behind Kuemper’s cage, carried it to the right face off dot, and fired a shot over Kuemper’s shoulder. Frolik, a left shot, had all day to set up with a great angle. 1-0 Jets at 16:00 of the first period.
Now, less than a minute later, The Wild earned 1:53 of 5-on-3 quality power play time. The Wild mustered a few shots, but couldn’t tie the game with TWO extra skaters. Dustin Byfuglien, who took the Jets’ first penalty, had a breakaway chance as he exited the box. Staring down one of the most tenacious players in the NHL, Kuemper stood tall and denied Byfuglien with his leg pad.
To end the period, Marco Scandella sent the Jets to their 3rd power play at 19:00; giving the jets 1:00 of power play time to open the middle frame.
Shots after one period: Minnesota Wild 14, Winnipeg Jets, 8
Second Period:
The Jets must have used all 18 minutes of intermission to plan their minute of power play time, because it only took them 20 seconds to score. Mathieu Perreault, who entered tonight’s tilt with points in 8 of his last 9 games, potted home a cross-crease pass from Blake Wheeler in to a yawning goal mouth. All eyes were on Wheeler, so Perreault had no competition. 2-0 Jets at 00:20 of the second period.
The Wild’s forecheck was key to generating chances tonight; especially with the 4th line of Ryan Carter, Brett Sutter, and Kyle Brodziak. 4 minutes in to the second, their tenacity was rewarded.
In the offensive zone, Carter attempted to clear the puck in to the offensive zone, but played the puck with a high stick.
touched the puck before a Wild player could and kept the play alive. Carter beat Pardy and
along the boards and set up Sutter in the slot. Sutter faked a shot and passed back to Carter who roofed a shot over Hutchinson’s trapper.
2-1 jets at 04:12 of the second period.
But that’s not all, Wild fans. Graovac was incredibly close to scoring his first NHL goal, but spun just a bit too far and couldn’t get a shot away.
The Jets didn’t step down quietly, peppering Kuemper with shots. Kuepmer made some key saves to keep it a one goal game. he did a really good job keeping pucks in front of him and freezing it when he saw trouble.
Did anybody else see Thomas Vanek head-butt the puck out of the zone? I got a good chuckle out of that.
[rleated-tag tag=”Tyler Graovac”]
The Wild’s final power play of the night, coming at 14:26 of the second, was the worst of them all. I don’t think they ever got set up in the zone and didn’t fire any shots on goal.
Justin Fontaine, scratched last game and chronically stuck in a bottom-6 role, tied things up for the Wild 5 seconds after the power play expired. Breaking out with Sutter, Fontatine buried his centering pass from 18-feet out in the slot. 2-2 tie at 16:31 of the third period. Sutter earned the primary assist, marking his first career multi-point game.
With a tie game and the momentum in hand, the Wild looked like a team of old. They were defensively sound, worked pucks deep, and pushed play to the outside. The forecheck was really, really good.
With just 12 seconds left in the middle frame, Scandella scored the eventual game winner. Jason Pominville fed a rushing Zach Parise from the defensive zone, Parise spun off a few defenders and sent the puck off to Scandella. the 24-year-old blueliner teed up a MASSIVE one-timer that flew past Hutchinson with a vapor trail. I’ve watched the replay a dozen times, and I’m still not sure where it went, though it looked to bounce off Hutchinson’s pad. 3-2 Wild at 19;48 of the third period.
Shots through two periods: Minnesota Wild 25, Winnipeg Jets 19
Third Period:
I hope you didn’t stop reading after that, because the third period was a riot.
Nate Prosser was a turnover machine, especially in the third. He just couldn’t hang on to the puck. Lucky for him, Kuemper was completely on his game and stopped everything that came his way.
Niederreiter and Parise both got bumped around like rag-dolls trying to bury home rebounds. i saw about 5 separate net-front scrums between the two teams. You can’t beat the passion between these two teams.
Dustin Byfuglien, who led all skaters in shot attempts, got stonewalled by a sprawling Kuemper with about two minutes left. Michael Hutchinson went to the bench with about 1:45 left. The Wild stepped up in a huge way and denied the Jets from tying the game and gaining any points in the standings. Game Over, Minnesota Wild beat the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 in regulation.
Final Shots on goal: Minnesota Wild 31, Winnipeg Jets 30
Trembley’s Take:
This is the most even, fun game I’ve watched this season. Now 9 of the last 10 meetings between the Jets and Wild have been decided by one goal. This rivalry is becoming something to behold. I sincerely hope the Wild take on the Jets in the Winter Classic sometime down the road. I’d drive to Anchorage in a rusty bathtub to watch that.
I think Graovac performed really well in his NHL debut. the 6-foot-5 center was second on the team with a Corsi for of 62% to go with one shot on goal and 9:02 of ice time.
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Justin Fontaine was a beast tonight with the tying goal, 3 shots, and a team leading 65% corsi for.
Marco Scandella now has 9 goals on the season. He’s second among NHL defenseman with 4 game winning goals and second in goals per game at 0.30. He had 22:47 on ice time. Surprisingly, he only had 47 seconds of power play time. With a shot like that, expect to see more in the future. Scandella and his defensive partner Christian Folin were a well deserved +3
Kuemper needed to win this game, to be honest. His confidence has been rattled and I think this is a building block for him. He stopped 21 consecutive shots and didn’t allow a goal in the last 39:40 of the game. Way to go, Kuemps.
The Wild needed to win this game, and they did. They took three of four available points in this swing, though they handed the Jets two points on Saturday. The Wild is 5 points out of a Wild Card spot after tonight’s win. They have 3 games in hand over the 8th place Los Angeles Kings and 7th place Jets.
The Wild visit Columbus and take on the Blue Jackets at 6:30 New Years Eve. I’ll talk to you then.