The Jets made it a game with third-period goals by Blake Wheeler and Bryan Little but the Wild held on for only its third non-one-goal win in 13 all-time meetings with the Jets and third non-one goal win in 14 games this season. “So it’s not a big surprise for us when it happens”, Folin said.
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He required 11 games before recording his first goal, but the former high-scoring Gophers winger hung in there and picked up 21 goals. He hit a slap shot to top left corner and Jets Goalie Ondrej Pavelec didn’t have a chance.
Despite a valiant effort in the final period, the Winnipeg Jets were unable to overcome a second period lead by the Minnesota Wild tonight at the MTS Centre where they fell 5-3 to the Wild.
Vanek recorded his first two-goal game of the season. Vanek got the puck and used a sweet between his legs move to stop Jets defenseman Paul Postma in his tracks. “This whole game, I think sometimes we take it too serious, so we’ve got to have fun”, Vanek said. He does that every day in practice. Winnipeg got back in the postseason a year ago but was dealt a sweep at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks so now they have their minds focused on making a push in the Western Conference this season and in order to do so they will have to win games like this one on the road against a very good Minnesota team that has one of the best blue lines in the National Hockey League.
Second Period-3, Minnesota, Vanek 5 (Folin, Prosser) 4:30.
Michael Hutchinson relieved Pavelec and gave up Porter’s tip-in a few minutes later, the first goal by Porter with the Wild. It was exactly the kind of game the team needed.
“I don’t know why it took us to be down 5-1 to turn it on like that”, Little said.
“Breakaways”, was the one-word assessment of the loss by Jets coach Paul Maurice.
“Last year, he got off to a good start as well”.
If the Wild’s going to stay above water these upcoming weeks without Zach Parise, Jason Zucker, Mikko Koivu and Nino Niederreiter can’t do it alone.
Thomas Vanek scored two goals, both were great goal scorers goals, but the second was pure highlight reel quality.
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For Vanek, it wasn’t lost on him that a team playing without its on-ice and off-ice leader, Zach Parise, at least for now, still put up five goals versus a division rival. With 7:21 remaining in the period the Wild won the faceoff clean and Spurgeon’s shot was tipped in by Porter for his first goal as a member of the Wild.
