Mandatory Credit: Bruce Fedyck-USA TODAY Sports
The Winnipeg Jets had a good first period allowing only 6 shots and generating 7 shots of their own. The Wild had 3 of their shots on one of their 2 powerplays in the first. There was no scoring and the Jets carried the majority of the play putting pressure on the the Wild relentlessly. Evander Kane was back in the lineup along with first game players goaltender Michael Hutchinson and forward Carl Klingberg called up from St. John’s IceCaps. Hutchinson the south paw goaltender wasn’t tested too much but looked solid in the first period.
Out of the lineup due to injuries were Dustin Byfuglien out with a torn rib muscle and he’s done for the season. Andrew Ladd was out with an injury and is listed day to day. Along with Ladd and Byfuglien, Mark Scheifele is still out with a knee injury, also on the shelf is Grant Clitsome, James Wright, Keaton Ellerby, Al Montoya, Chris Thorburn and Zach Bogosian.
The second period was a bit of a snooze fest with the Wild out shooting the Jets 7 to 5. The Wild got the only goal in the period on the power play from Charlie Coyle with his 12th of the season from Zach Parise and Mikko Koivu at 1;05. Michael Hutchinson probably would have wanted that back as it slipped between his pads. Not a lot going on that period, very little hitting and a lot of neutral zone play.
In the third the most boring game of the year came to an end as the Jets out shot the Wild 12-4 in the third but couldn’t get the equalizer and out shot the Wild 24-17 over all. Ilya Bryzgalov earned the shut out. Final score 1-0 Minnesota. I sure hope Minnesota doesn’t win the cup this year because every team in the league will want to play like that. It was like watching the Czech Republic in the late 90’s and early 2000’s sending one man in with a 1-0 lead all for maybe one rush in the third period.
Next game is at home when the Boston Bruins come to town Thursday April 10th at 7 pm.
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