Wild don’t have the juice to beat playoff-bound Winnipeg
The Wild are running out of battery. And time.
Down to seven regular-season games remaining, and without two key forwards and a defenseman, Minnesota didn’t have enough juice to beat playoff-bound Winnipeg on Saturday, and the Wild’s 4-2 loss left them at the precipice of elimination in the Western Conference wild-card race.
Winnipeg got goals from four different players as the Jets swept the four-game season series between Central Division rivals to pull within five points of first-place Dallas. Kirill Kaprizov scored two game-tying goals for Minnesota, but the Wild could never manage a lead on the Jets.
Kaprizov’s goals were his 38th and 39th of the season, leaving the winger one shy of becoming the first player in franchise history with three consecutive 40-goal seasons.
Vladislav Namestikov, Kyle Connor, Brenden Dillion and Morgan Barron scored goals, and Connor Hellebuyck made 23 saves for the Jets. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 21 of 25 shots for the Wild.
Minnesota this week officially lost veteran wing Marcus Foligno to season-ending surgery to repair core muscles, and forward Ryan Hartman on Saturday was serving the third game of a three-game suspension he received Monday for throwing his stick on the ice after a 2-1 overtime loss to Vegas.
Defenseman Zach Bogosian missed his second game because of an undisclosed injury to his midsection.
Now with six regular-season games remaining, the next five of which will be played on the road starting Sunday in Chicago, the Wild are hanging by a thread in the race for the West’s two wild-card playoff spots.
Minnesota’s maximum possible point total is 93; seventh-place Vegas already has 92, and eighth-place Los Angeles already has 91 pending a late game Sunday against Vancouver.
The Wild had a Grade-A chance to tie the game in the second period when Matt Boldy had the puck on his stick between the circles, with an almost empty net in front of him. With Hellebuyck pulled to Boldy’s right, the Wild winger poked it wide right.
Minnesota coach John Hynes pulled Fleury with more than five minutes remaining, but Kaprizov was hit with a holding penalty at 14:56 to kill that plan and put the Wild’s penalty kill back on the ice.
Jets defenseman Dylan DeMelo was penalized for high sticking with 2:46 remaining, giving the Wild a 5-on-4. But the Wild couldn’t find the net, and Fleury was pulled again with 56 seconds left.
Marco Rossi had a strong shot on net from the right circle, but the Wild’s best chance to cut into the lead was blocked by Hellebuyck.
The Wild have lost two in a row and finished 2-2-2 on their longest homestand of the season, although they forfeited a point in loss to Vegas on March 30 after pulling the goaltender in overtime.
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