Wild edge Jets in shootout
Published 8:24 am Monday, November 25, 2013
WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Charlie Coyle scored in the fourth round of the shootout to give the Minnesota Wild a 3-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday.
Coyle deked before beating Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec.
Minnesota is 15-5-4 and has won six of its past seven games and is 9-1-1 in November.
The loss extended Winnipeg’s losing streak to four games (0-2-2). It was the Jets’ eighth shootout of the season and third loss.
Mikko Koivu also scored on Pavelec in the shootout. Bryan Little beat Niklas Backstrom.
Michael Frolik and Matt Halischuk each had a goal and assist for Winnipeg (10-11-4) in regulation.
Nino Niederreiter and Zach Parise scored for Minnesota. Parise’s 11th of the season sent the game into overtime. He also had an assist.
Winnipeg was ahead 2-1 late in the third period and it looked as if that lead might be secure when Wild defenseman Marco Scandella was called for hooking at 14:02.
But Wild had no problem being short-handed.
Ryan Suter, Koivu and Parise got a 3-on-2 break and Parise fired a low shot past Pavelec at 15:02.
Parise also had an assist and has 12 points in his past 10 games.
In overtime, Wild winger Jason Zucker broke up a 2-on-1 rush as Evander Kane was about to shoot and Devin Setoguchi’s low shot was stopped by Backstrom.
Pavelec made 33 saves. Backstrom made 37 saves.
Backstrom was in goal for the Wild after Josh Harding suffered a lower-body injury in warmup. Backstrom was returning from his first concussion, suffered after an elbow to the head by Nazem Kadri on Nov. 13 that led to the Toronto Maple Leafs forward being suspended three games.
Wild backup goalie Darcy Kuemper was on his way to Iowa of the AHL, but was contacted in time at the Winnipeg airport and taken to the MTS Centre to sit on the bench in case Backstrom needed relief.
The Jets outshot Minnesota 14-4 in the scoreless period, with both teams each having one power play.
Frolik got his sixth goal of the season at 13:07 of the second period after the Wild turned the puck over just outside their blue line.
Frolik got the puck and sent a pass to Halischuk, who fired high at Backstrom. The puck went into the air and then onto the ice near the crease, where Frolik was on the spot to flip it into the net.
The Wild outshot the Jets 17-11 in the second period.
Minnesota tied it up 1-1 at 3:21 of the third when Scandella took a pass from Parise and fired a shot from the high slot. Niederreiter got the rebound and put it past Pavelec.
The Jets regained the lead just over two minutes later when Halischuk took advantage of his own rebound to score his second of the season.
Notes: Winnipeg embarks on a six-game road trip, beginning Monday in New Jersey. Minnesota finishes a four-game road trip in St. Louis on Monday. … Winnipeg defenseman Mark Stuart returned after missing 10 games with a hip injury.