Wild whips Jets 8-1
The Minnesota Wild moved another step closer to the NHL regular season with an impressive pre-season showing against the Winnipeg Jets on home ice at the Xcel Energy Center Sunday (Sept. 27).
On the same day the squad trimmed its roster to 27 players, the Wild put a veteran-heavy lineup on the ice to record a lopsided 8-1 win against the visiting Jets.
A four-goal first period sent the Wild on its way with another three unanswered goals in the middle period and one more in the third before Mathieu Perreault scored the lone Jets goal with 7:30 to play, shattering the shutout bid of Devan Dubnyk who turned aside 18 of 19 shots in goal for the Wild.
Matt Dumba paced the Wild offense with two goals and two assists while Nino Niederreiter and Zach Parise both counted a goal and two assists. Charlie Coyle, Miko Koivu and Jonas Brodin each added a goal and a helper and the other goal came from Mikael Granlund.
Connor Hellebuyck stopped 10 of 12 and Michael Hutchinson 12 of 18 as they split the time in goal for the Jets.
Next action for the Wild will be Thursday (Oct 1) again on home ice against the Buffalo Sabres.
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About Author
jimmerdenhollander@gmail.com
Born and raised in Ontario, Canada and moved to the state of Wisconsin in my late 30's. I worked at various newspapers and magazines in various sports positions for 25 years before changing careers five years ago. Now I am streamlining my focus on hockey only and in particular, all levels of hockey in the American Midwest.