ST. PAUL, Minn. _ The Wild haven't lost three in a row in regulation since they opened the season 0-4.
And they avoided duplicating that rut Saturday afternoon by rallying for a 3-2 overtime win over the Jets at Xcel Energy Center on the heels of back-to-back losses during a four-game homestand that wraps up Sunday vs. the Flames.
Center Eric Staal backhanded in a loose puck in front 1 minute, 52 seconds into the extra period on a 4-on-3 Wild power play, this after winger Luke Kunin evened it at 2 with 5:30 to go in the third period when he sent a no-look, drop pass from winger Marcus Foligno by Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck.
Both of Winnipeg's goals came on the power play, the second a one-timer from captain Blake Wheeler that put the Jets ahead 2-1 just 52 seconds into the third.
The Jets were in the waning stages of a four-minute power play that was awarded late in the second after the on-ice officials exercised a new rule that allows them to use video to review whether a high-sticking double minor was correctly called.
In this incident, winger Jordan Greenway was penalized for high-sticking Anthony Bitetto _ although video showed in-house made it difficult to see where Bitetto was actually hit. After the apparent contact, Bitetto grabbed his face and fell to the ice. Play continued, and it wasn't until the next stoppage that the sequence was reviewed and the Wild was penalized.
Winnipeg's other power-play goal tied it at 1 only 39 seconds into the second, a one-timer from Mark Scheifele.
Before then, the Wild opened the scoring 1:12 into the first period when Foligno finished off a Joel Eriksson Ek cross-crease pass into an empty side.
That was the start of a heavy push by the Wild in the first, which included a physical edge set by Foligno and his three hits. But the Wild couldn't squeeze more offense out of the period.
In all, Hellebuyck made 41 saves and helped snuff out four of the five Wild power plays. The Jets finished 2 for 5. Devan Dubnyk had 19 stops for the Wild.
