Former Wild forward Nino Niederreiter scored two goals as the Jets beat the Wild, 4-2, on Saturday in Winnipeg. It snapped the Wild’s four-game winning streak. The two teams will play again Sunday afternoon in St. Paul.
Kaprizov hurt in return to Winnipeg
Kaprizov’s first return to Winnipeg since being hurt there in March was a rough one. This was where Kaprizov suffered a lower-body injury on March 8 when Logan Stanley toppled over him, forcing the Wild star to miss a month. Kaprizov got hurt again Saturday, leaving the game in the third period after taking a couple nasty, unpenalized cross-checks to the lower back by Dillon, the Jets’ hard-nosed defenseman. It looked to be a retaliation after Kaprizov floored Dillon with a reverse hit. Give Jake Middleton credit for fighting Dillon later in the period, taking on the tough defenseman in defending Kaprizov.
Fleury’s 1,000th coming Sunday
Fleury relieved Gustavsson to start the third period Saturday, which means Sunday’s start against the Jets will be the 1,000th game of his career. Fleury will become the fourth goalie in NHL history to reach that milestone, joining Martin Brodeur, Patrick Roy and Roberto Luongo.
Gustavsson gave up three goals on 22 shots before exiting the game. Wild coach John Hynes had no update on Gustavsson’s situation after the game, but Fleury said he began to get mentally ready during the second period when Gustavsson came to the bench informing the trainers of an issue. If Gustavsson has to miss any time, expect the Wild to call up Zane McIntyre from AHL Iowa (top prospect Jesper Wallstedt is still dealing with a lower-body injury).
The Gustavsson injury comes at a bad time. Heading into Saturday’s game, he was 8-2 under Hynes with a .932 SV% and 1.87 GAA. The Wild in that span had the second-best save percentage in the NHL behind Winnipeg.
The captain is back
The Wild blue line is getting healthier as Spurgeon returned to the lineup after a seven-game absence. Hynes decided to keep the Brock Faber-Middleton pair together since they were playing so well, with Spurgeon instead going with Alex Goligoski. Spurgeon got off to a rough start, as the first Jets goal (a shot by Alex Iafallo) that was heading well wide ended up bouncing in off the captain’s skate. Spurgeon wasn’t limited, and he was put right back in his regular roles, both on the penalty kill and the top power-play unit.
Wild boasted rare board-battle issues
One of the Wild’s strengths during their recent run under Hynes has been their consistency in winning battles, especially along the boards. But the team was very lacking in this area Saturday. Case in point was the Jets’ second goal. Winnipeg’s third line went to work, defenseman Jon Merrill lost the puck along the wall, and three Wild players collapsed on Adam Lowry, leaving Niederreiter all alone. It was one of two goals for Niederreiter, the former Wild forward traded to Carolina for Victor Rask by former GM Paul Fenton. Minnesota was also too soft along the wall on the Jets’ fourth goal.
Three stars
1. Nino Niederreiter, Jets — The former Wild forward came through with two goals, nearly completing a hat trick in the third period.
2. Connor Hellebuyck, Jets — Hellebuyck was terrific, especially in the third period when the Wild tried to mount a comeback. He made 34 saves.
3. Josh Morrissey, Jets — The workhorse defenseman had an assist, was a plus-2 and logged 22:57 of ice time.
Quotes of the game
“We were slow to get to our game,” said Matt Boldy, who scored his 10th goal in 15 games under Hynes.
“We fought back at times, but we weren’t at our best tonight and I think tomorrow we’ve got to be at our best,” Hynes said.
“I think we all agree it wasn’t our best night,” said Fleury, who stopped nine of 10 shots in the third period.
On his anticipated 1,000th career game, Fleury said he’s “looking forward to it.”
“It’s pretty cool to get there. But it’ll be nice to be done with it,” Fleury said.
(Photo: Darcy Finley / NHLI via Getty Images)
