ST. PAUL, Minn. _ After the Wild still played at preseason speed in Thursday's opener, Bruce Boudreau demanded a whole lot more during Saturday's home opener versus the division rival the Wild could end up battling for a playoff spot against.
"I think both (teams) realize that they have to beat each other if they want to make the playoffs," Boudreau said of the Winnipeg Jets before 18,024 Wild fans packed Xcel Energy Center. "Out of the five games we play, every game's going to be a must game against these guys."
Booed off the ice after allowing two goals in the final 71 seconds of the first period, the Wild were cheered off the ice after roaring back in the second period with three goals to deliver Boudreau his first victory as Wild coach by a 4-3 score.
Re-acquired Chris Stewart, who began the middle 20 minutes by taking an undisciplined penalty, sparked the comeback with a natural Gordie Howe hat trick, the fourth of his career, by scoring a goal, assisting on Matt Dumba's tying goal 58 seconds later and fighting Chris Thorburn.
Eric Staal, the Wild's big offseason free-agent acquisition, played a beastly game as well. Hustling all period, Staal turned a 2-on-2 led by Zach Parise and Charlie Coyle into a 3-on-2 and buried Coyle's pass at the backdoor for the go-ahead goal, his first in a Wild uniform.
The mild-mannered reserved Staal, who had an outstanding preseason, was fired up after the goal, to say the least.
Minnesota held Winnipeg to two shots in the period and no shots during a 14-minute span carrying over into the third.
Defenseman Jonas Brodin, whose turnover late in the first gift-wrapped Winnipeg's early lead, made amends in the third with his first goal of the season. It became the winner when Mark Scheifele scored in the final seconds.
In a game the Wild outshot the Jets 31-17, Devan Dubnyk made 14 saves in his 300th career game.
The Wild, beaten four times by Winnipeg in five games last season, improved to 14-0-2 all-time in home openers and avoided its first 0-2 start since its inaugural season in 2000.
Trailing 2-0 to start the second, Stewart got it started coming out of the penalty box after the Wild killed it needless cross-checking minor on Scheifele. Jared Spurgeon made a heck of a move in the defensive zone to bank Stewart a pass. With Staal driving the net, Stewart took a shot meant for a rebound to Staal. The rebound, instead, was put in by Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers.
Three seconds into an ensuing power play, Dumba blasted a shot through traffic for his first goal of the season.
The Wild got off to a decent start, even having a couple 2-on-1s and a near Jason Zucker wraparound goal on one early Jets power play. But the Wild wasted two power plays by totaling one shot and a Mikael Granlund post and the lack of finish came back to haunt.
After being picture perfect on almost every breakout of the first period, Brodin and Ryan Suter turned two pucks over and both ended up in the back of the net.
A 0-0 game turned into a 2-0 deficit in a stunning final 71 seconds of the period. First, Brodin telegraphed perfectly a pass he was attempting to Stewart near the Wild bench. Ehlers intercepted it at the blue line, skated to the top of the left circle and unleashed a rocket under the crossbar for a 1-0 lead.
Then, after Suter couldn't handle Parise's pass near the defensive blue line, Scheifele stole the puck and gave it to Blake Wheeler. Wheeler gave it to Dustin Byfuglien, who circled around the back of the net and to the top of the zone unimpeded. He whipped a shot through traffic and Wheeler deflected it for a 2-0 lead.
Wheeler has a seven-game point streak against the Wild (five goals, eight assists).
