Jets Snatch Defeat from the Hands of Victory, Falling 4-3 to Minnesota

THis was a Game the Jets should have won

The Winnipeg Jets were 22 seconds away from perhaps turning around this disappointing season.

But a power play goal by Mats Zuccarello at 19:38 of the third period sent a game the Jets should have won in regulation time into OT.

And just 39 seconds into the overtime, Matt Boldy ripped a shot from between the circles past Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck and the Minnesota Wild stole a 4-3 victory -- and just might have buried the Jets 2025-26 season.

With the loss, the Jets fell to 15-17-4 and are now five points away from the final Wild Card spot in the West. However, this was a loss that stung. The Jets played well, they were the better team all night and yet, as it has gone far too often this season, they were on the losing side of a tight game.

Even though the No. 1 line was outstanding once again – Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele each had a goal and an assist and Gabriel Vilardi had two assists -- the Jets once again got nothing much from the other three lines.

Kyle Connor was congratulated by the fans for scoring his 30th career goal (Photo by Rusty Barton) 

The Jets should have taken a 1-0 lead at 9:23 of the opening period when Gustav Nyquist went coast to coast and beat Minnesota netminder Jesper Wallstedt on the short side. But when Nyquist undressed Quinn Hughes at the Wild blueline, Nino Neiderreiter was offside. The goal was disallowed.

The Jets finally scored the first goal at 11:36 of when Kyle Connor fed Josh Morrissey, who skated into the slot and unleashed a lazer under the bar that Wallstedt didn’t see until it came back out of the net. It was Morrissey’s sixth goal of the season as Connor and Gabriel Vilardi drew the assists.

Shortly after the Jets scored, Logan Stanley and Jake Middleton played some old-time hockey. Stanley landed plenty of punches early, Middleton came back and the fight ended when Stanley fell on top of the big Wild defenceman. Both sat for five.

But Minnesota tied it at 18:29 when the Jets’ hopelessly slow second line couldn’t get the puck out of its own end and eventually a seemingly meaningless shot from the side boards by Kiril Kaprisov was tipped by Matt Boldy and past Connor Hellebuyck.

In the second period, the Wild took a 2-1 lead at 7:33 when Kaprisov walked around Dylan DeMelo, went in alone on Hellebuyck and beat the Jets netminder with a nifty move to the backhand. It was Kaprisov’s 21st of the season.

The Jets battled back and tied the game at 17:40 when Mark Scheifele stole a Minnesota pass in the Jets zone, got the puck up to Vilardi who dragged the puck and a Wild defenceman behind the Minnesota net. Vilardi dished the puck back to Scheifele who fed a wide-open Kyle Connor in front and Connor made no mistake. He ripped it past Wallstedt for his 18th of the season. Vilardi (17) and Scheifele (27) earned the assists.

Then came a bit of a miracle. With five second left in the period, Jonathan Toews won a faceoff in the Minnesota zone. The puck wound up on Scheifele’s stick and the Jets leading scorer skated to the front of the net and fired a shot past Wallstedt with just two seconds remaining in the period. It was Scheifele’s 18th goal of the season and Toews seventh assist. It also sent the teams into the second intermission with Winnipeg on top 3-2.

The Jets were the better team once again, outshooting the Wild 9-6. Interestingly, after two periods, the Jets had outshot Minnesota 19-11 and had also hit an unbelievable five posts behind Wallstedt.

They called a penalty for slashing on Logan Stanley at 13:36 even though Stanley barely made contact with Vinnie Hinostroza who yelled at the official and convinced him to raise his arm.

The Jets fought off that penalty, but they couldn’t fight off the next one. With 30 seconds remaining and the puck in the Minnesota zone, Dylan DeMelo was called for cross-checking behind the play. The official blew his whistle when Connor stole the puck from Quinn Hughes and scored an empty net goal. The goal was disallowed and the Jets were left a man short.

With six attackers to four, Mats Zuccarello scored just eight seconds into the power play. That set up overtime and Boldy scored the winner just 39 seconds into extra time.

The Jets outshot Minnesota 26-19 on the night, but stats didn’t matter in this one. Penalties were all that mattered and the Wild’s big power play goal with 22 seconds remaining was perhaps, the end of the line for the Jets season.