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 Defenseman Marco Scandella scored at 1:01 of overtime and the
Wild survived a comeback by the Winnipeg Jets to earn a 4-3
decision.
Center Zach Parise scored two goals and right winger Nino
Niederreiter once in the first period for the Wild, who improved to
7-1-0 at home.
Right winger Michael Frolik and left wingers Evander Kane and Andrew
Ladd scored third-period goals for Winnipeg, bringing it back from a
3-0 deficit to force overtime.
Scandella's low wrist shot from just inside the blue line went
through a screen by center Mikael Granlund to beat goaltender
Michael Hutchinson for the winner.
"Of course we were frustrated with the way we let them back into the
game," said Parise, who missed the last five games with a
concussion. "Unfortunately we gave them a point that we shouldn't
have. It was good for us to come back and win it in overtime, but
it's not the ideal thing to let them crawl back in there when you
have a three-goal lead."
Scandella missed the past two games with an illness that was
believed to be mumps-related.
 "It's really depleting, he said. "You just feel like you're tired
all day. That's how I knew I was ready to come back is I wasn't
feeling as tired. I just had to get the muscles going. It wasn't
that, that bad in my case."
His goal provided a sigh of relief for Minnesota, which led 3-0
heading into the final period.
"We just lost the rhythm of the game in the second period, with that
things came out in the third, in the end we found a way to win and
that's all that matters," said coach Mike Yeo.
Winnipeg was proud of the way it finished a five-game road trip.
"We want to feel comfortable in these kind of games to be able to
make them feel like we can come back even late in the third," said
defenseman Adam Pardy, who was a healthy scratch the previous nine
games. "We want to be a hard team to play against no matter what. If
we're losing 2-0, we're just not going to pack it in and pack our
bags and go home for the night."
Frolik started the Jets' comeback in the third by scoring on a
rebound. Kane then scored on a centering pass from below the goal
line that deflected off goaltender Niklas Backstrom to bring the
Jets within 3-2 at the 8:19 mark.
A wrist shot from Pardy was redirected by Ladd into the net at 10:47
to tie the game. The goal also sent Backstrom to the bench after he
made 19 saves on 22 shots. He gave up the three Winnipeg goals on
five shots he faced in the period, however, and was replaced by
Darcy Kuemper, who made three saves the rest of the way.
The Wild scored two goals early in the opening period to take a 2-0
advantage.
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Niederreiter scored the first on a power play at 2:07, taking a
cross-crease pass from left winger Thomas Vanek, skating below the
goal line and going forehand-backhand to tuck the puck around the
sprawled goaltender Ondrej Pavelec and into the net.
Parise made it 2-0 at 4:11 of the first when his shot from the right
circle deflected off Winnipeg forward Blake Wheeler in front and
behind Pavelec.
Parise got his second goal of the game with 1:15 to go in the
opening period when he charged down the slot and had a rebound from
a shot by defenseman Jared Spurgeon deflect off his leg and into the
Winnipeg net.
"I'm really, really proud the way they handled a couple of real bad
breaks there in the first period that would have shattered most
teams. We got a little snarl on and fought our way back," said
Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice.
The Jets, who have lost three of four, were 0-for-8 on the power
play, including a pair of two-man advantages. The Wild have now won
three in a row after losing four straight.
Pavelec, who stopped just eight of 11 shots, was replaced by
Hutchinson to start the second period. Hutchinson stopped 15
straight shots until giving up the winner in overtime.
NOTES: To make room for C Zach Parise's return, Minnesota placed D
Jonas Brodin on injured reserve retroactive to Nov. 11. He missed
his third game due to illness, believed to be the mumps. ... After
the game, Minnesota sent D Justin Falk and C Jordan Schroeder to AHL
Iowa. ... Playing in his 17th game this season, Winnipeg G Ondrej
Pavelec trails only New Jersey's Cory Schneider in minutes played.
... RW Chris Thorburn played his 500th game for the Winnipeg/Atlanta
franchise. ... Minnesota entered the game with the second-worst
power play in the league at an 8.2 percent success rate; Winnipeg
was third worst at 11.1 percent. Buffalo is last at 7.0 percent. ...
Winnipeg begins a three-game homestand Tuesday against New Jersey.
... Minnesota starts a three-game road trip Thursday in
Philadelphia.
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