ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Connor Hellebuyck made a season-high 43 saves, Alex Iafallo scored two goals, and the Winnipeg Jets beat the Minnesota Wild 4-1 on Monday night in a game between two of the Western Conference's best.
The Jets needed each of Hellebuyck’s stops in his league-leading 15th win. Only defenseman Jacob Middleton beat the reigning Vezina Trophy winner, on a rebound in the first period.
Iafallo tied the game less than 1 1/2 minutes later. His second goal came on a tip-in on the power play with 6:40 left in the game. It was the 100th goal of his career.
Nino Niederreiter's backhand from in front of Filip Gustavsson made it 2-1 with 8:55 remaining in the second period. Niederreiter spent 2013-18 in Minnesota and now has seven goals and four assists against his former team.
Minnesota has lost seven straight to the Jets, including a 2-1 overtime defeat earlier this year in Winnipeg.
Takeaways
Jets: Hellebuyck is now in a three-way tie for second in the NHL in goals-against average (2.13). That group includes Gustavsson, who stopped 28 of 31 shots on Monday.
Wild: Kirill Kaprizov returned to the lineup after a one-game absence with a lower-body injury suffered Thursday in Edmonton. The NHL's No. 2 scorer had his franchise-record 11-game point streak snapped.
Key moment
Niederreiter's goal came off the rush after Middleton fanned on a breakaway at the other end. Teammates Yakov Trenin and Joel Eriksson Ek then became tangled up with Iafallo, and Winnipeg went racing the other direction.
Key stat
The Wild were outshooting the Jets 36-16 when Niederreiter found the back of the net. Minnesota went nearly 11 minutes without a shot on goal in the third period but still finished with a 44-32 advantage.
Up next
The Jets continue a season-long six-game road trip Wednesday at Los Angeles; Minnesota visits Buffalo on Wednesday.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Phil Ervin, The Associated Press
