Wild’s early success doesn’t last in loss to Winnipeg

The Wild couldn’t overtake Winnipeg for the top spot in the NHL, but they could remind the Jets that they have competition for first place, best in the West and the Central Division crown.

That was the message the Wild started to send before they botched the delivery with a 4-1 loss on Monday night at Xcel Energy Center to drop another tightly contested division battle after they faltered in their previous biggest game vs. the Stars.

“We are right there,” winger Marcus Johansson said. “Obviously, we want to win against every team and win every night. I feel like we showed that we can play with anyone. Tonight we needed to score more goals, and that’s just how it goes sometimes.

“We had enough chances to win.”

Already in next-goal-wins territory halfway through because of stellar each team’s goaltender has been, Winnipeg never looked back after former Wild forward Nino Niederreiter’s tiebreaker at 12 minutes, 5 seconds of the second period. Netminder Connor Hellebuyck was airtight the rest of the way to finish with 43 saves and backstop the Jets to their seventh consecutive victory over the Wild and fourth in a row in St. Paul.

Niederreiter’s game-winner proved just how slim the margins were: After the Wild killed off a penalty to get back to full strength, Jake Middleton was denied twice on a breakaway, with Hellebuyck fending off the first shot and Middleton’s whack at the rebound.

As the puck went the other direction, Joel Eriksson Ek and Yakov Trenin remained behind the play tied up with the Jets’ Alex Iafallo, setting up a 4-on-3 advantage that Niederreiter capitalized on when he skated uncontested to the middle to lift a backhander past Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson. Neiderreiter has seven goals in 15 career games vs. the Wild.

“There’s some discussion points we can have on that situation,” coach John Hynes said.

During the third, the Wild’s execution on a season-high 44 shots remained off.

Meanwhile, Winnipeg tacked on an insurance goal on the power play (1-for-3) on Iafallo’s second of the night at 13:20; Hermantown’s Neal Pionk assisted on fellow Minnesota Duluth alum Iafallo’s goal and Niederreiter’s. Adam Lowry buried an empty-netter with 1:03 to go. The Wild power play went 0-for-2.

“That’s what happens when you play good teams and they have a lead, that they’re going to make it hard for you to then generate offense,” Hynes said. “They don’t need to score another goal. They need to keep it out of their net, and they did a good job.”

BOXSCORE: Winnipeg 4, Wild 1

NHL standings

The Jets (18-4) widened their lead over the Wild to six points. Wins earlier in the night by the Devils and Hurricanes moved the Wild (13-4-4) from second to fourth.

Kirill Kaprizov returned after he was sidelined on Saturday vs. the Flames following a knee-on-knee hit from the Oilers’ Drake Caggiula last Thursday, but Kaprizov went pointless for only the fourth time this season.

Like when they fell 2-1 to Dallas on Nov. 16 in another division test, the Wild aren’t at full strength, with Mats Zuccarello and Marat Khusnutdinov still out and Jakub Lauko not playing in the third period because of a lower-body injury, but they were much more cohesive to start their rematch with Winnipeg.

After slickly moving the puck up ice and around the offensive zone, the Wild opened the scoring for a league-leading 14th time when Middleton buried a Johansson rebound at 8:37. Johansson is on a four-game point streak.

“We came out flying,” Middleton said. “We threw the kitchen sink at him.”

But the Jets are atop the standings for a reason, and they rebounded quickly: After Rasmus Kupari forced a Wild turnover along the boards, he set up Iafallo for a blistering backhander only 1:26 after Middleton’s goal.

Still, the Wild were in control for much of the period, and they unleashed a whopping 22 shots on Hellebuyck for their highest output of any period this season and second-best first-period total in franchise history.

“Disappointing,” Middleton said. “But we threw a lot at him. That was probably the best first period we played all year.”

The Wild didn’t ease up much in the second, racking up another 17 shots, but the Jets also upped their pressure and were opportunistic during that rare odd-man break against Gustavsson, who made 28 stops.

“We had enough chances to win the game and have the lead after the first and second periods,” Johansson said. “Sometimes that’s how it goes.”

The Wild haven’t won against Winnipeg, Dallas and Colorado (excluding the playoffs) in nearly 20 months.

Finally securing a statement win inside the division is the type of résumé builder the Wild are lacking during their surge through the first quarter of the season, but they will get more opportunities. Their next and final clash with the Jets is Dec. 21 in Winnipeg.

“You need to win against the best teams,” Gustavsson said. “We just need to find a way to win those.”