Winnipeg Jets vs. Minnesota Wild – 4/13/18 NHL Pick, Odds, and Prediction

The pace was noticeably quicker.

Kekalainen disagreed with officials giving Anderson a five-minute major and a game misconduct for his hit on Kempny, which was definitely a minor penalty but seemed less egregious than Wilson’s later. The crowd was arguably louder.

The Jets had the best home record in the National Hockey League during the regular season, and they’re hoping this advantage will help them take a 2-0 lead in their first-round series.

“The first game was awesome”. We played OK, but… we took a huge step (Friday). They will return to the Twin Cities with their tail between their legs, trailing 0-2 for the fourth consecutive playoff series.

“You’ve got to win four”, Boudreau said after the Winnipeg Jets beat the Wild 4-1 on Friday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference first-round series.

The teams had a scoreless first period for the second game in a row.

Absorbing the loss in game one was Devan Dubnyk, who allowed three goals on 40 shot attempts in the game. Zach Parise leads Minnesota with one goal, Mikko Koivu has one assist and Joel Eriksson Ek has four shots on goal.

All heck broke lose in the final seconds as a frustrated Minnesota squad seemingly wanted a pound of flesh.

Wingers Daniel Winnik and Brandon Taven fought.

“Everybody got out healthy”.

From the blazing fast Nikolaj Ehlers, to that Finnish rifleman Patrik Laine, to a six-foot-five set-up man in Blake Wheeler who spins away from checks like he’s Patrick Kane, this was a clinic on what the Winnipeg Jets can do to you when they have all hands on deck. Winnipeg’s third pair of Tyler Myers and Ben Chairot were on the ice for 13 shots for, three against and three Jets goals.

“They have to become more of a factor”, coach Bruce Boudreau said. Not even the fighting, the chirping going on back and forth. The second period was more physical.

“Just another day at the office”, he deadpanned.

“It makes me smile, I guess”.

“We played well enough to win”, defenceman Jacob Trouba said. During the regular season, in his career, he has gone 53-26 with a 2.50 GAA in his home games and 31-18 with a 2.23 GAA against the Central Division, while against the Wild he has gone 5-2 with a 2.52 GAA. The way the guys played tonight in front of me, we blocked I don’t know how many more shots tonight than we did the other night. A guy who loves the game loves coming to the rink.

There are postseason vets such as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby up to their usual tricks, but there are also some first-timers in the mix this year, including new San Jose Shark Evander Kane.

The series now shifts to St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center for Game 3 on Sunday, which is a good thing for the Wild. The Wild may have some of the pieces in place to make a run next year, but the bad luck was too much this season.

Even though the crowd stayed below the capacity of 6000 people, organizers said more space is needed.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t get a good look”, Hellebuyck said about the hit on Koivu. Jack Roslovic assisted on Myers’ and Copp’s tallies.

“It was a fun one”.

“So it’s nice to get that off our backs and, hopefully, we get a lot more”. In the postseason, goals are usually harder to come by and the adrenaline of the moment brings hard hits that cross the line; a year ago, Penguins star Sidney Crosby missed a game with a concussion after a cross-check to the head from the Capitals’ Matt Niskanen . “He’s pretty gifted, yeah”, said Maurice. But it’s not going to be easy obviously. “He deked our player, we didn’t hold the middle and he got to come right down Main Street”.