Jesper Wallstedt made 32 saves to record his third shutout of the season and fourth in 13 career starts, fueling the visiting Minnesota Wild to a 3-0 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday.
Wallstedt turned aside all 10 shots he faced in the third period to net Minnesota its second straight shutout, fourth in the last seven games and NHL-best fifth of the season.
Danila Yurov tallied in the second period for the Wild, who became the fifth NHL team in the past 30 years to open the scoring in 12 consecutive games.
Defenseman Brock Faber also scored in the second period and Kirill Kaprizov added his team co-leading 13th goal of the season in the third.
Minnesota extended its season-high winning streak to five games and point streak to eight games (7-0-1). The Wild also snapped a nine-game losing streak against Winnipeg and avenged a 4-3 setback in overtime to the Jets on Oct. 28.
Eric Comrie turned aside 27 shots and Mark Scheifele played in his 900th career NHL game for the Jets, who have lost six of their last nine games.
Yakov Trenin won a battle for possession of the puck from Nino Niederreiter and alertly fed Yurov, who converted from the doorstep at 8:23 of the second period. Yurov’s goal was his third of the season and first since Nov. 7.
Faber doubled the advantage with 1:48 remaining in the second period. Marcus Johansson skated in on a 2-on-1 rush before applying the brakes and feeding a trailing Faber, who beat Comrie for the Wild’s second short-handed goal in the last three games.
Jake Middleton wired a sharp feed from the point to a driving Kaprizov, who beat Comrie from in close to give Minnesota a 3-0 lead at 6:29 of the third period.
Minnesota’s Nico Sturm registered three hits in his season debut. He was playing in his first game since undergoing back surgery following a training camp injury.
–Field Level Media
