Winnipeg Jets extend win streak to four games by thrashing Wild 6-2

The Winnipeg Jets may have entered their meeting with Minnesota Thursday night on a three-game win streak, but they were still riding a nine-game road losing streak.

They put a loud and emphatic end to that, crushing the Wild 6-2 for their first win outside of Winnipeg since Nov. 29 in Nashville.

Minnesota actually dominated play for much of the first period, outshooting the Jets 10-0 in the first 13 minutes as Winnipeg barely touched the puck but Connor Hellebuyck stood tall to keep the score 0-0.

Things turned when Matt Boldy took a high-sticking penalty in the offensive zone at the 12:43 mark, which was then compounded by a Marcus Foligno tripping penalty that gave the Jets a 5-on-3 for 1:28.

Winnipeg made Minnesota pay as Jonathan Toews banged home a loose puck off a rebound from their first shot on goal in the game, giving him goals in four straight games and 900 points in his NHL career.

The goal gave Winnipeg life as they outshot Minnesota 8-1 over the duration of the period, the latter two shots providing a stunning end to the first.

With time winding down, the Jets dumped the puck into the Wild end with Quinn Hughes getting the puck from his goalie in the corner. Under pressure from Tanner Pearson, Hughes sent a weak clearing attempt up the boards that Dylan DeMelo stopped before sending a shot on goal.

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Jesper Wallstedt easily saved that shot but Pearson was there to collect the rebound, and though he was denied on his first follow-up attempt, he roofed the second one over a sprawled Wallstedt for his third goal in five games with 10.5 seconds left in the first.

One would have thought that would be it for the scoring, but the Wild sloppily iced the puck off the ensuing faceoff, giving the Jets one last chance in the offensive zone.

Executing a set play, Toews won the faceoff back to Mark Scheifele, who dropped the puck back to the point for a Josh Morrissey one-timer that beat Wallstedt with 2.3 seconds on the clock.

A stunned St. Paul crowd booed its team as the horn sounded to end what turned out to be a disastrous period for the Wild.

Minnesota cut into the Jets’ advantage just under five minutes into the second when Danila Yurov got free in the slot, took a nice pass from the corner from Jake Middleton and rifled it past Hellebuyck.

But the Wild got into more penalty trouble as the period went along, which proved to be rather costly.

Winnipeg did not score while Mats Zuccarello was in the box for tripping, but just three seconds after his penalty expired and before he could get back into the play, the Jets made it 4-1.

Logan Stanley kept the puck in at the Minnesota blue line and tried to send it on net but it was blocked by Foligno; however, Stanley was able to get it back and skated down to the faceoff dot before unleashing a full-windup slapshot that went bar-down on Wallstedt for his eighth of the season.

Minnesota was penalized again a few minutes later when Nico Sturm was given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, yelling at the refs after Quinn Hughes tripped over Hellebuyck on a breakaway chance for which no call was given.

On the ensuing power play, after a scramble in front of Wallstedt, Scheifele got the puck back to the point where Morrissey fired a shot that missed wide. Winnipeg got a great bounce as the puck caromed off the boards and right to the stick of Gabriel Vilardi for a tap-in goal to make it 5-1.

After the Jets killed off an Alex Iafallo penalty, Kyle Connor hit Iafallo with a pass as he stepped out of the penalty box. Iafallo carried it deep into the Minnesota zone before passing it to Scheifele at the faceoff dot. He ripped a shot off the post and in for his 23rd of the season, making it 6-1 after 40 minutes and giving Scheifele a fourth point in the game to match a career-high.

The second intermission also spelled the end of Wallstedt’s night as Filip Gustavsson took over for the third period.

Not much happened in the final frame, save for a Marcus Johansson goal with 2:42 remaining to make the final score 6-2.

Hellebuyck was rock solid in goal for Winnipeg, stopping 32 shots while the Jets have now scored 20 goals over this four-game win streak.

They’ll look to make it five in a row when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night. Pregame coverage on 680 CJOB begins at 4 p.m. with the puck dropping just after 6 p.m.