Jets score twice in third to beat Wild 3-2, spoil Fleury's 1,000th NHL game
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Dominic Toninato scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period and the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Minnesota Wild 3-2 on Sunday, sweeping a home-and-home series.
Adam Lowry and Vladislav Namestnikov also scored for Winnipeg.
Laurent Brossoit stopped 24 shots for the Jets, who are 6-0-2 in their last eight games.
Marcus Foligno and Frederick Gaudreau scored for Minnesota, which lost for the third time in 10 games. One of those was a 4-2 loss at Winnipeg on Saturday.
“Going into both games, you knew it was going to be a hard-fought battle,” Winnipeg coach Rick Bowness said. "There wasn’t much room out there. Kind of low-event game for a while. That’s the way both teams play. John (Hynes) has got these guys playing really, really hard. They’re tough to play against.”
Marc-Andre Fleury, who was playing in his 1,000th NHL game, made 26 saves for the Wild.
“I’m kinda happy it’s over. I wish it was a win. Disappointing,” Fleury said. "I thought the guys played great tonight. Battled hard. It’s a better game than last night in Winnipeg. Two points is what’s important here."
The teams traded power-play goals early in the third, with Gaudreau giving the Wild a 2-1 lead at 3:56 and Namestnikov evening the score less than a minute later.
Toninato scored the eventual winner at 7:32 of the third. A delayed penalty was called on the Wild, and with an extra attacker on the ice, the Jets set up in Minnesota’s zone. Toninato chipped a rebound over Fleury and into the net for his first of the season.
A tense atmosphere prevailed before the game as Wild star Kirill Kaprizov was scratched because of an injury that he sustained in Saturday’s 4-2 loss at Winnipeg. Kaprizov left that game in the third period after taking two cross-checks to the lower back from Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon.
The Wild were upset that no penalty was called, and Minnesota defenseman Jake Middleton later fought Dillon, setting a hostile tone for a rematch less than 24 hours later.
Just two seconds into Sunday’s game, Wild forward Pat Maroon and Jets captain Lowry dropped their gloves and fought at center ice. But that was the extent of the fighting for the day.
“He just asked if I wanted to go," Lowry said of Maroon. "We knew they would come out and probably be looking for a response after Kaprizov gets hurt. Just settle things down, try to get it out of the way rather than wait a little bit.
“He asked me politely, let me take the faceoff, and it was one of the few ones I won tonight” Lowry added. “So (we) got that out of the way and we were able to play some hockey.”
Ryan Hartman appeared to put the Wild on top 1-0 late in the first period, but the Jets challenged the play and the goal was overturned as a Wild player was ruled offside.
But not long after, the Wild scored one that counted when Foligno redirected Jared Spurgeon’s shot from the center point past Brossoit at 18:07 of the first.
Lowry tied it for Winnipeg early in the second, tucking a rebound of a Mason Appleton shot past Fleury for his seventh of the season.
The Jets kept up the pressure in the second period, hitting a post and a crossbar, but Fleury kept them in check until the third, when Gaudreau temporarily put them ahead before Namestnikov and Toninato won it for Winnipeg.
UP NEXT
Jets: At Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday.
Wild: Host Calgary Flames on Tuesday.
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