The Winnipeg Jets made sure this one was over early so the fans could celebrate for as long as possible.
The Jets posted four goals in the first period to rout the Minnesota Wild, 5-0 in the series-clinching Game 5 win Friday night.
The series win was the first in Jets franchise history.
Connor Hellebuyck made 30 saves to get the shutout win, his second straight shutout in the series.
“I thought the team was great in front of me,” Hellebuyck said. “The guys’ details are fantastic. Anytime you can get that many (goals) in the first period, that kind of sinks the other team, especially deep in a series like this. They definitely got this one early.”
Jacob Trouba, Bryan Little, Brandon Tanev and Joel Armia struck in the first period to start the rout; for all four it was their first goal of the post season.
Mark Scheifele closed out the scoring with a goal in the first minute of the third period.
“I think when you have the opportunity to eliminate somebody, you want to jump on them as fast and hard as possible,” Blake Wheeler said. “I think teams on the brink come in with hope, and the faster you take it away from them, you know, you can kind of squash them a little bit.”
The Jets’ early onslaught left the Wild with little push back and they were on their heels in the first period and out of the game for the final 40 minutes.
“I thought we were rattled,” Wild head coach Bruce Boudreau said. “I mean, we couldn’t handle the puck very well. We weren’t making our passes in the first 10 minutes. Looked like we were nervous out there, and they obviously took advantage of that.”
[WATCH: All Wild vs. Jets highlights | Complete Jets vs. Wild series coverage]
Devan Dubnyk got the start for Minnesota but was given the hook after he surrendered the four first period goals on just 10 shots.
“It just seems like everything went down in a hurry,” Wild forward Charlie Coyle said. “They made some good plays. I think we kind of made it easy on them. They had odd-man rushes the other way and got in our zone and made us pay right away. It’s definitely not the start we wanted. It’s a tough one to come back from.”
Alex Stalock relieved Dubnyk and made 14 saves.
“It [stinks] having that as the last thing that you’re going to think about and feel after a hard-fought season and a hard-fought series,” Dubnyk said. “It certainly wasn’t how the series went, and it [stinks] that that’s going to be the last thing that we’ll remember from the series.”
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