Pominville, Niederreiter help Wild defeat Jets
WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- The Minnesota Wild solidified their hold on top of the Western Division with a 4-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night.
Minnesota (35-12-5) led 3-0 before the game was 23 minutes old and repelled Winnipeg's spirited comeback.
The Jets had several point-blank chances to pull even in the third period but were stopped by Devan Dubnyk or missed the net.
Wild right winger Nino Niederreiter salted the game away with an empty-net goal, his second of the game and 17th of the season, with 1:20 left. Right wing Jason Pominville also scored twice for Minnesota.
Winnipeg outshot the Wild 40-25.
Minnesota's Mikael Granlund had his 12-game point streak snapped.
The Wild opened the scoring at 11:51 of the first period when Niederreiter and center Charlie Coyle came down on an innocent-looking 2-on-2. Niederreiter pulled a nifty toe drag, creating a screen with Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey, and ripped a wrist shot from the top of the circle under Ondrej Pavelec's glove for his 16th goal of the season.
It was Minnesota's eighth shot on goal and meant that Winnipeg's newly anointed No. 1 goaltender gave up the first goal within the first 10 shots in each of his eight starts since being recalled by the AHL's Manitoba Moose last month.
The Wild doubled their lead before the period was over following an interception of a break-out pass by rookie right winger Patrik Laine. Pominville converted the turnover when his wrist shot deflected off Morrissey and behind Pavelec at 19:19.
Minnesota made it 3-0 early in the second period when Morrissey was stripped of the puck on a dump-in. Coyle found Pominville with a cross-crease pass and he ripped his 10th past Pavelec at 2:33.
The Jets got on the board following sustained pressure in the Wild zone immediately after. Center Bryan Little picked up a loose puck in front of Dubnyk, skated to his left and outwaited the goaltender before calming roofing his 15th of the season at 5:35.
Winnipeg pulled Pavelec for the first time this season and inserted Connor Hellebuyck. It wasn't punishment, though, as the Jets tweeted shortly afterward that Pavelec had sustained a lower-body injury.
Winnipeg continued to play inspired hockey and were rewarded when Joel Armia used Minnesota defenseman Christian Folin as a screen before ripping his fourth of the season from just inside the blueline over Dubynk's shoulder at 16:42 to reduce the deficit to 3-2.
NOTES: Jets RW Drew Stafford returned to the lineup after missing six games because of a lower-body injury. RW Chris Thorburn got a spot in the press box alongside D Julian Melchiori and G Michael Hutchinson. ... Joining them from the Wild were C Jordan Schroeder, D Jonas Brodin and D Nate Prosser. ... The Jets' 5-2 loss to Colorado on Saturday ended a nine-game winning streak against teams from the Central Division. ... Seven times the Jets were at .500 in terms of points earned this season, and seven times they failed to put themselves above (0-6-1). ... Wild assistant coach John Anderson served two seasons as the coach of the Atlanta Thrashers from 2008-10. ... The Wild host Chicago on Wednesday, and the Blackhawks visit Winnipeg on Friday.