Top line carries Winnipeg Jets to 5-2 win over Wild

At some point, the Winnipeg Jets are going to need some consistent depth scoring.

But if their top line can keep firing on all cylinders, they’re going to win a decent number of hockey games, such as Tuesday night in Winnipeg when Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele and Cole Perfetti supplied most of the offence in a 5-2 win over the Minnesota Wild.

The opening goal game less than two minutes in. After Perfetti entered the Minnesota zone with the puck, he left it for Scheifele who then dropped it back to the point for Neal Pionk. Pionk held it for a moment before sending a shot on goal that was tipped en route by Perfetti and past Cal Pickard at the 1:50 mark.

The goal was Perfetti’s fourth of the season in his sixth game. It took him 36 games to hit that mark last season as he worked his way back from an ankle injury.

But the Wild answered back at the 8:47 mark, taking advantage of a bad giveaway. As Dylan Samberg circled from behind his own net with the puck, he tried to pass it to his partner, Dylan DeMelo. The pass was not a good one, landing in DeMelo’s skates and he was unable to corral it before Kirill Kaprizov picked it up.

He skated in alone on Stuart Skinner, who turned aside Kaprizov’s first shot before the Russian star batted the rebound into the net, a highlight-reel finish to a disastrous play from Winnipeg’s back end.

Winnipeg’s star players cashed in again with 2:06 left in the first. Connor skated behind the Wild net with the puck and along the boards before dropping it off to Pionk. Pionk then skated back around the net the other way, taking the puck above the goal line before sending a perfect backdoor pass that Scheifele deposited into an open net for his first of the season.

The lead was short-lived, however, as Kaprizov scored again 44 seconds later when he tipped a Quinn Hughes point shot past Skinner.

Minnesota wound up outshooting the Jets 13-7 in the first, including 9-1 over the final 11:43.

The score stayed deadlocked 2-2 for most of the second period but a long o-zone shift by the second line helped Winnipeg earn their first power play of the night, and they took full advantage.

After Pionk missed the net, Scheifele collected the puck near the left point. He sent the puck below the goal line to Gabriel Vilardi, who quickly steered the puck to Perfetti in the slot for a snapshot that beat Pickard high at the 16:36 mark.

It took 40 games for Perfetti to score five goals last season.

Winnipeg earned another power play less than a minute later as Isak Rosen was held during a strong net drive but the Jets couldn’t cash in on the ensuing advantage.

Shots on goal for the second were 13-3 in favour of the home team.

Just over four minutes into the third period, the Jets extended their lead, once again thanks to their stars. Tyler Pitlick had a chance to control a loose puck in his own end but he fumbled it, allowing it to roll to the stick of Connor near the point. He skated to his right to try and get away from Pitlick, which he was able to do after executing a tight spin with the puck.

That left Connor with a lot of space in the slot, which he used to load up and rocket a wrist shot past Pickard for his seventh goal of the season.

With just over five minutes to go, the Jets got an insurance goal from their fourth line. Vlad Namestnikov and Cole Koepke were sprung on a 2-on-1, with Namestnikov carrying the puck into the Minnesota zone before sliding it across to Koepke, who wired it past a sliding Pickard to make it 5-2 with his first of the season.

Skinner stopped 19 shots to earn the win, though he only needed to make eight saves over the final two periods against a Wild team that had played the night before.

The Jets will head out on the road for one game, in Chicago Thursday night. Puck drop is just after 7 p.m. with pregame coverage on 680 CJOB starting around 5:15 p.m.