Wild Lose in Winnipeg
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Blake Wheeler scored the 200th goal of his NHL career with 6:46 left and the Winnipeg Jets held off the Minnesota Wild 4-3 on Friday night.
Wheeler also helped Jets coach Paul Maurice become the 17th NHL coach to reach 600 victories.
The Wild turned the puck over just outside their blue line and Kyle Connor fed a pass to Wheeler, who used a deke to beat goalie Devin Dubnyk at 13:14. The former University of Minnesota star's score made up for a disallowed Winnipeg goal midway through the period.
Jets center Mark Scheifele appeared to have poked in the go-ahead goal, but it was overturned on a Minnesota challenge that Wheeler interfered with Dubnyk.
Patrik Laine had a pair of power-play goals and Nikolaj Ehlers added his sixth goal of the season for Winnipeg. Scheifele and Dustin Byfuglien each had two assists, and Wheeler added one.
Mikko Koivu, Mike Reilly and Chris Stewart scored for the Wild, and Jason Zucker had two of assists.
Connor Hellebuyck made 25 saves for the Jets for his fourth victory of the season.
Dubnyk stopped 26 shots for the rested Wild. They were playing their first game since their home opener last Saturday.
NOTES: Jets forward Brendan Lemieux, the son of former NHLer Claude Lemieux, made his NHL debut with his family in the crowd. Lemieux arrived in Winnipeg in the 2015 trade that sent Evander Kane and Zach Bogosian to the Buffalo Sabres. .... Stewart extended his point streak to five games.
UP NEXT:
Wild: At Calgary on Saturday night.
Jets: At Pittsburgh on Thursday night.