Wild 5, Jets 3
SAINT PAUL, Minn. -- Left winger Thomas Vanek scored twice in the second period, spurring an explosion by the Minnesota Wild, who jumped out to a four-goal lead and sailed past the Winnipeg Jets 5-3 Tuesday.
Vanek recorded his first two-goal game of the season.
Right winger Nino Niederreiter, center Erik Haula and left winger Chris Porter also scored for the Wild, who won their second game in a row and improved to 7-1-0 at home. Goaltender Devan Dubnyk had 25 saves for Minnesota (9-3-2).
The Jets (8-6-2) got two goals from center Bryan Little and one from right winger Blake Wheeler but looked spotty defensively all night and took seven penalties in the game. Starting goalie Ondrej Pavelec stopped just eight of the 12 shots he faced before being lifted near the midway point of the game. Michael Hutchinson finished the game in goal for Winnipeg, allowing one goal while stopping 15 shots.
Minnesota was outshot by a wide margin in the early stages of the game, but the Wild made their first flurry of shots count.
Niederreiter drifted to the side of the Winnipeg crease and took a pass from captain Mikko Koivu, who was behind the net. Pavelec gloved Niederreiter's initial shot, but the rebound popped free, allowing Niederreiter a second chance. His wrist shot went over the goalie's glove and in at 3:44 of the first period.
Winnipeg tied the game at 1-1 later in the first. Defenseman Dustin Byfuglien's blast from the right point was headed for the net waist-high when Little reached out with his stick and deflected the puck between Dubnyk's knees.
Minnesota took a 2-1 lead a short time later. A Jets shot was blocked, and defenseman Christian Folin was able to feed a 90-foot lead pass to Vanek, who was behind the Winnipeg defense. Streaking into the offensive zone unobstructed, Vanek blasted a slap shot from between the circles that hit the upper left corner of the net at 4:30.
Just seconds into Winnipeg's first power play, a clearing attempt by Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon was knocked down at center ice by Haula, who had a breakaway of his own and capped it off with a snap shot that beat Pavelec's blocker at 5:59.
Vanek made it 4-1 for the Wild near the halfway point of the game, pulling the puck around Jets defenseman Paul Postma and snapping off a rising shot that beat Pavelec high. That was the end of the night for Pavelec, who was replaced by Hutchinson for the second half of the game.
The new goalie got a rude greeting from the Wild, as Porter deflected a Spurgeon shot off the left post and in. It was the first goal of the season and the first in a Wild uniform for Porter.
Wheeler's goal, on a third-period power play, was the first man-advantage goal by Winnipeg in November, snapping a 0-for-13 drought over four-plus games.
NOTES: Wild D Marco Scandella was scratched for what the team called personal reasons, but Minnesota got a blue line boost with the return of D Nate Prosser to the lineup. Prosser left Minnesota's 3-2 loss to Nashville last Thursday with a back injury, and sat out one game. ... After going four games without a man-advantage goal, Winnipeg's once-feared power play dropped from fifth in the NHL, statistically, to 16th. ... Jets RW Blake Wheeler, who grew up in the Twin Cities, joked after Tuesday's morning skate at Xcel Energy Center that he "scored a big goal here once." He was referring to the 2007 WCHA Championship game versus North Dakota when he scored a highlight reel goal in overtime, lifting his University of Minnesota team to the title. ... The Wild wore camo warmup jerseys in honor of Military Appreciation Night on Tuesday. Fans could bid on the jerseys in an on-line auction, with proceeds going to support military families in Minnesota.