The Winnipeg Jets yielded two goals to the Minnesota Wild early in Monday night’s match-up.
Then the engines fired up and the Jets struck for seven straight goals in a 7-2 romp past the Wild.
Seven different skaters scored for the Jets including Joel Armia, Mark Scheifele, Jacob Trouba, Mathieu Perreault, Kyle Connor, Bryan Little and Blake Wheeler.
With the win, Winnipeg improved to 15-6-3.
The win erased a nasty taste after a 4-0 defeat in San Jose.
“Even last game, we didn’t think we played all that bad a game,” Perreault said. “We had 38 shots, a lot of good chances. We ran into a hot goalie and weren’t able to score.
“Tonight, it wasn’t the case. We were able to stay with it. Down two early, we never thought we were out of this game. And we battled back.”
Jason Zucker and Chris Stewart staked the Wild to the 2-0 lead prior to the Minnesota collapse.
“To play the way we did is unacceptable. It falls on all of us,” Wild forward Matt Cullen said. “We had a pretty good start, and just a couple of mistakes and the puck is in our net. We just have to get back to work, we have a way to go. I think we’d all agree we’re not where we need to be yet as a group. I think we all need to make a decision about how we’re playing. We’ve got to turn things around. We’ve got the pieces to do it.”
Connor Hellebuyck made 17 saves to pick up the win.
The Jets were 2-for-5 on the power play and killed off the only penalty they were whistled for in the win.
“We talked about it as much as anything just to be aware of when we were doing our (penalty kill) meeting, how hot it was. They’ve been scoring off the rush and they’ve been scoring from low plays,” Jets head coach Paul Maurice said after the game. “So, we spent time making the group aware. I think they had 21 goals in their past six games and 10 of them were on the power play, so if you stay out of the penalty box you can cut their offense in half pretty quick.”
The loss dropped the Wild to 11-10-3.
“It’s too early right after the game, so I’m not going to start to be a coach here and tell you what’s wrong,” Mikko Koivu said. “Obviously, there’s more than just one thing.”
[WATCH:Â All Wild vs. Jets highlights]
Alex Stalock made 21 saves in taking the loss.
“From about the 13-minute mark of the first period, we just quit playing. It’s easy to say we’re going to watch the video, but it’s a compete level. Once the Jets started to play a little bit better it was like, ‘woe is me,’ and we didn’t compete against them,” Wild head coach Bruce Boudreau said lamenting the Wild effort.
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