Jets at Wild
The Minnesota Wild lost only six home games in regulation this season, but need far more than a change in venue to stop the Winnipeg Jets as the Western Conference first-round series shifts south of the border for Game 3 on Sunday. The Jets completely dominated Minnesota in nearly every aspect of a 4-1 victory in Game 2 Friday, outshooting the Wild 44-17, holding Minnesota without a shot on goal for more than 20 minutes and completely exerting their will physically.
“The first game was amazing, a pretty cool experience,” Winnipeg forward Nikolaj Ehlers told the media after recording an assist and finishing with a plus-2 rating in helping the Jets take a 2-0 series lead. “We played OK, but we took a huge step (Friday). Now we want more steps.” A necessary step for Minnesota to try and make this a series is to provide goaltender Devin Dubnyk some help, as he has faced 84 shots on goal through two games amid relentless pressure from all four Winnipeg lines. Dubnyk registered 40 saves in Game 2 and kept the Wild within one goal entering the third period for the second consecutive contest, but the Jets blew it open in the final period and outhit Minnesota 38-23. “We couldn’t answer their momentum,” Minnesota captain Mikko Koivu told reporters. “They got the pucks deep and pressured our (defensemen) and we couldn’t come with passes and clear the zone like we usually do. That’s our strength and we’ve got to find that.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, USA, TVA, Sportsnet (Winnipeg), FS North Plus (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE JETS: Defenseman Dustin Byfuglien led Winnipeg with eight hits, and his jarring smash of Koivu early in the second period ignited the Jets -- whose flight to Minnesota on Saturday was diverted to Duluth, then sent back to Winnipeg due to a snowstorm. The defensive pairing of Tyler Myers and Ben Chiarot each finished plus-3 as Myers scored the game’s opening goal en route to a two-point night and Chiarot added an assist with three hits and three blocked shots. With forward Mathieu Perreault sidelined for Game 2 with an upper-body injury suffered in the opener, rookie forward Jack Roslovic drew into the third line and responded with two assists and a plus-2 rating in 10:24 of ice time.
ABOUT THE WILD: Forward Zach Parise scored for the second time in two games, but lamented the lack of Minnesota offense in telling reporters after Game 2, “You’re not going to win many getting 14 shots, 15 shots, 20 shots. There’s just not a lot of room for error.” The Wild have mustered 37 shots on goal in 120 minutes, with a 12-minute drought in the third period in the opener and a 20:03 drought spanning the end of the second and most of the third period Friday. Rookie forward Jordan Greenway played well in his 13:50 of ice time in Game 2, and was moved temporarily onto a line with Eric Staal and Mikael Granlund in the third period.
OVERTIME
1. Wild coach Bruce Boudreau sat D Matt Dumba out of Saturday’s practice, after the 23-year-old averaged 28:31 of ice time in the first two games - nearly five minutes more than his regular-season average.
2. Parise’s goal Friday marked his 13th playoff tally with the Wild, surpassing Marian Gaborik’s franchise record, and the power-play marker matches Gaborik’s franchise mark (five).
3. Jets G Connor Hellebuyck, whose chance at a shutout in his second playoff game was spoiled by Parise’s goal with 45 seconds left, has stopped 34-of-37 shots in the series.