Three second-period goals and one in the third lifted the Minnesota Wild to a 4-3 win against the Winnipeg Jets at Xcel Energy Center. After trailing 2-0, Minnesota took a 3-2 lead with 5:00 remaining in the second period when Charlie Coyle found Eric Staal in the slot. It outshot Winnipeg 12-2 in the period.
Winnipeg took the lead with goals 1:08 apart late in the first period. Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers picked off a pass by Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin and shot the puck top-shelf at 18:49. Jets captain Blake Wheeler scored on a tip of Dustin Byfuglien's shot with three seconds remaining.
After sitting two minutes for cross-checking, Wild forward Chris Stewart left the penalty box and scored to make it 2-1 at 7:25 of the second. Minnesota scored four seconds into a power play with a Matt Dumba goal at 8:23 to tie it 2-2.
Brodin made it 4-2 at 14:08 of the third period when his shot from a weird angle slipped its way between goalie Michael Hutchinson's pads. With an extra attacker, Jets forward Mark Scheifele made it 4-3 with 19 seconds left.
* After a cross-checking penalty by Stewart, the forward got into position in the slot. After the puck bounced off Ehlers' stick, Stewart pushed it past the goal line for Minnesota's first.
Bruce Boudreau: "What I said (between periods) will stay in the room. But in no uncertain terms it was that we can be better than what we were playing. We looked when we came off at the end of the first period, the thing that got me more upset, was we looked defeated. And we had to change that. And they did. I thought in the last two periods we allowed eight shots or something and they played really hard and they got rewarded."
"They're getting it [New System]. Hockey's not brain surgery. … Play the game."
Matt Dumba: "We had to take a stand, and enough was enough. We knew we were going to get to our game, and we did."
Paul Maurice: "Yeah, the simplicity of the NHL game demands that waiting for things rarely ever works. All things open up after chaos gets created and we didn't create enough chaos in the offensive zone to create some of the plays we were looking for."
Brodin made it 4-2 at 14:08 of the third period when his shot from a weird angle slipped its way between goalie Michael Hutchinson's pads. With an extra attacker, Jets forward Mark Scheifele made it 4-3 with 19 seconds left.
* After a cross-checking penalty by Stewart, the forward got into position in the slot. After the puck bounced off Ehlers' stick, Stewart pushed it past the goal line for Minnesota's first.
* Shorthanded at 5:17 of the first period, Minnesota's penalty kill created a 2-on-1 for the second time toward Hutchinson. Jason Pominville tried to stuff a rebound, but Hutchinson stonewalled him to keep the game 0-0.
* Fifty-eight seconds after Stewart scored, and four seconds into the Wild's fourth power play, Dumba picked up a loose puck and scored to tie the game 2-2.
* Fifty-eight seconds after Stewart scored, and four seconds into the Wild's fourth power play, Dumba picked up a loose puck and scored to tie the game 2-2.
* Coyle skated the puck up the right side while Staal hustled to create a 3-on-2. Coyle passed the puck to the tape of Staal's stick for the easy goal and the Wild's first lead. The goal was Staal's first for the Wild.
"It was a lot of fun. It was a great play by Charlie and I went to the net hard. We kind of shot ourselves in the foot there in the first and didn't put ourselves in a great spot. But I liked our response, obviously, in the second, and definitely felt the momentum in the building shift, and we were on the attack a lot in the second period." Staal said.
* Stewart had an assist on goal by Dumba and fought Chris Thorburn in the second period for a Gordie Howe Hat Trick. … Minnesota is 14-0-2 in its home openers. "It's been a long summer to get to this point of the start of the season," Staal said. "You want to play well in your first home game and do the right things."
"They're getting it [New System]. Hockey's not brain surgery. … Play the game."
Matt Dumba: "We had to take a stand, and enough was enough. We knew we were going to get to our game, and we did."
Jets Quotes
Blake Wheeler: "I think they came out a little bit flat [in the first period]. They regrouped and got a little bit quicker on us there in the second period. I think we were feeling good about our game after the first and didn't really match their speed there in the second and they kind of took over the game."Paul Maurice: "Yeah, the simplicity of the NHL game demands that waiting for things rarely ever works. All things open up after chaos gets created and we didn't create enough chaos in the offensive zone to create some of the plays we were looking for."
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