WINNIPEG – The slide continues as the inconsistent Winnipeg Jets have begun digging themselves into must-win games as the rest of the Western Conference continues to win and have games in hand on the talented but very young Jets.
The chase for the final playoff spot is now five points away and Winnipeg will be looking 
to go on a long run sooner rather then later.
Tuesday’s opponent was the top team in the West and a very big rival the Minnesota Wild who have only lost five games since American Thanksgiving. The Wild came to town looking to heat up the MTS Centre.
Things were not looking good early as the Wild jumped out to a 2-0 lead after one with goals from Nino Niederreiter who scored his 16th and Jason Pominville who notched his ninth in the final minute .
Pominville scored two and half minutes into the second his 10th of the season and third point of the game to give the Wild a 3-0 lead.
“Nothing in this team surprises me right now. I mean, it seems like there’s a different hero every night. Charlie [Coyle] is a good player, and he doesn’t get a lot of notice,” — Wild head coach Bruce Boudreau said.
Ondrej Pavelec started his eighth game of the season for the Jets and gave up three goals on 14 shots before leaving the game with a lower body injury six minutes into the second period.
The Jets woke up and started to dominate the game but couldn’t seem to find the back of the net until Bryan Little scored his 15th of the year , later in the period Joel Armia scored his fourth to make things interesting .
“You can’t take the effort from us. We’ve had problems with that this year, but if we can have the effort, and get a few lucky bounces, I think we have a good chance of winning these games,” Winnipeg’s Nikolaj Ehlers said after the loss.
Devan Dubnyk started his 41st game of the season and was spectacular for the Wild .
The Jets outshot the Wild 16-6 in the second but found themselves down by a goal.
Early in the third Mikael Granlund was awarded a penalty shot after Dustin Byfuglien pushed a loose stick into him while he had the puck.
Connor Hellebuyck who replaced the injured Pavelec out waited the slick handed Granlund to keep the Jets in this one.
After numerous flurries of action where Dubnyk stood on his head and had some luck from the iron Niederreiter iced it with his 17th and second of the game into an empty net to give the Wild a 4-2 win.
WATCH: All Wild vs. Jets highlights
Next up for Winnipeg will be Chicago who comes to town on Friday night.
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