Sometimes you need your goalie to bail you out of trouble.
Good thing the Winnipeg Jets have the best goalie in the NHL.
Connor Hellebuyck stopped 43 0f 44 shots, making 38 saves over the first two periods as the Jets picked up a 4-1 win in Minnesota Monday night to improve to 18-4 on the season.
Like he did when the two teams met in Winnipeg last month, Jacob Middleton opened the scoring for the Wild, banging home a rebound at the 8:37 mark of the opening period.
The Jets answered back less than 90 seconds later thanks to their fourth line. Rasmus Kupari won a puck battle in the corner and fed Alex Iafallo in front, who buried a hard backhand past Filip Gustavsson at the 10:03 mark.
Minnesota had the bulk of the good chances as the period wore along but Hellebuyck stood tall, turning aside 19 of 20 shots faced while the Jets mustered nine on goal in the first.
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The Wild continued to pour shots on Hellebuyck in the second but it was Winnipeg who grabbed the lead 12:05 into the middle frame.
After Hellebuyck turned aside another top notch opportunity from Minnesota, the Jets broke up the ice 4-on-3 as two members of the Wild got tied up with Iafallo behind the Jets’ net. Eventually, the puck wound up on the stick of Neal Pionk before he slid a perfect pass to Nino Niederreiter, who roofed a backhand past Gustavsson to put the Jets ahead 2-1.
Winnipeg certainly had more life in the second period, especially after they scored but they were still outshot 17-13 for a two-period total of of 39-20 in Minnesota’s favour.
But in the third, the Jets put the clamps down on the Wild, allowing just two shots over the first 14 minutes before Winnipeg picked up an insurance marker on the power play.
With the second unit on the ice, Iafallo tipped a Pionk point shot that Gustavsson caught a piece of but not enough as it fell into the net to give Winnipeg a 3-1 lead. The goal was the 100th of Iafallo’s career.
Minnesota pulled the goalie with just under three minutes left but couldn’t muster much of a push before Adam Lowry sealed it with an empty netter with just over a minute to play.
Winnipeg will now head further west to visit the Los Angeles Kings Wednesday night. Pregame coverage on 680 CJOB starts at 7 p.m. with the puck dropping just after 9 p.m.
