SAINT PAUL, Minn. — If last weekend’s NHL results are at all telling, the Halloween Night meeting between the Winnipeg Jets and Minnesota Wild could be a blowout.
Both teams are coming off a home win against the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins. But where the Wild had to scratch and claw and come from behind to beat the Penguins 2-1 on Saturday night, the Jets had little trouble. Blake Wheeler’s first-period hat trick was just the opening salvo in a 7-1 romp by the Jets.
The common denominator is solid goaltending, with both Minnesota’s Devan Dubnyk and Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck hitting their stride in the waning days of October. Overall, Jets coach Paul Maurice likes the defensive identity he is seeing from his young team.
“We’re on our way, is the best way to put it, but we’ve got a lot of room for growth, with and without the puck,” Maurice said.
For Wheeler, the Minnesota native who always enjoys his homecomings versus the Wild, the hat trick was his first in nearly a decade. Wheeler, however, said that recent team success supersedes anything he is doing individually.
“It felt really good to get the win, that’s it,” Wheeler said. “We’re going to score goals, we’re going to make plays, but ultimately it’s about the way we lead. With that comes scoring chances, and we’re going to score on our fair share of them. It’s all about getting two points, and I think we’re all pushing in that direction.”
The Jets (5-3-2) earned at least a point in each of their past four games.
Minnesota, in the midst of a six-game home stretch, has put together back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
While injuries have been a big part of the story thus far for the Wild (4-3-2), Minnesota is getting healthier by the day. Mikael Granlund skated in the past two games after missing the previous five with a groin injury, and all indications are that Nino Niederreiter will be back in uniform against that Jets. He has missed six games with a high ankle sprain.
“The doctor told me it’s going to take awhile before I don’t feel anything, but it feels an awful lot better, and every day I step on the ice, it gets better and more comfortable, so that’s a step in the right direction,” Niederreiter said after the Wild’s practice on Monday. “In practice, you still think about it, but as soon as you play a game, you don’t have time to think about it.”
With offensive standouts such as Niederreiter, Charlie Coyle and Zach Parise on the shelf for much of October, the Wild have seen surprising players emerge in the attack. None has been more surprising than Chris Stewart.
Stewart, who turned 31 on Monday, is in his second stint with the Wild and has skated for five different teams in 10 NHL seasons, but he leads Minnesota with six goals.
This will be the fifth time in franchise history that the Wild have played a game on Halloween. They are 2-1-1 entering the Tuesday tilt.
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