Jets now winless in last five games (0-2-3) after a 4-3 overtime loss to the Wild

The Jets battled back down 3-0 before losing 4-3 in overtime to the Utah Mammoth on Sunday night. Tonight, back from the holiday break, the Jets played their penultimate home game of 2025 against another strong Central Division opponent: the Minnesota Wild. Canada Life Center played host to tonight’s game as the Jets looked to pull off a rout against the third-place team in the NHL standings. The now 15-17-3 Jets took on the 22-10-6 Wild with both teams looking for 2 points in this Central Division matchup.

There were a few changes to the Jets lineup tonight as they continue to primarily rotate their forward line combinations. Gabriel Vilardi moved back to line 1 and played alongside Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele. Alex Iafallo moved to line 2, Morgan Barron moved to line 3 and Nino Niederreiter moved to line 4. Logan Stanley continues to cycle between three different defense partners (tonight it was Luke Schenn), after Colin Miller and Haydn Fleury previously took Schenn’s place.

Connor Hellebuyck was given another start in goal, while Hellebuyck continues to start in goal since returning from knee surgery ahead of schedule. The Jets lineup remains fully healthy and injury-free. Hellebuyck came into tonight’s game with a 9-8-2 record, a 2.48 GAA and an impressive .912 SV%. The Jets took their first lead of the night late in the second period, but a last-minute goal by the Wild sent them into overtime shortly after winning tonight’s game.

1st Period

Tonight’s game started off a little slower, but that was somewhat expected since both teams haven’t played in a while. Josh Morrissey opened the scoring tonight as Gabriel Vilardi and Kyle Connor set him up for one of his famous, well-placed slap shots. Jesper Wellstadt had no chance here and the Jets took a 1-0 lead midway through the first inning.

Less than a minute later, Jake Middleton and Logan Stanley dropped the gloves in an entertaining battle. With 91 seconds left in the 1st, Matt Boldy scored after Quinn Hughes and Jared Spurgeon put him forward and passed Connor Hellebuyck. The Wild took one penalty prior to this goal (5+ minutes earlier) and the Jets took a penalty with 2 seconds left in the 1st. After 20 minutes of play, the shots on goal were 10-5 Winnipeg, but this game was tied 1-1.

2nd Period

In the second period there were two power plays for the Jets and one power play for the Wild. The goals in the 2nd matched what each team had on power plays, but none of the three goals in the 2nd were scored on the power play. Kirill Kaprizov was brought on on a partial breakaway after Danila Yurov and Mats Zuccarello set him up, and he made no mistake going to the backhand before putting the puck in the back of the net.

After taking the 2-1 lead, the Wild appeared to have some control over the game until the late stages of the 2nd. Kyle Connor tied this game at 2 with just over 2 minutes left in the 2nd after Gabriel Vilardi and Mark Scheifele put him in front for an elite snap.

Two minutes later, the Jets took a 3-2 lead. Jonathan Toews, who was on fire in the faceoff all night, won a faceoff and tied his man. Mark Scheifele grabbed the puck and fired a wrist shot past Wallstedt with just 3 seconds left in the second period. Tonight’s game was fairly even after 40 minutes of play, and the Jets had a one-goal lead.

3rd Period

The third period was a hard-fought battle between both teams. The Jets took the only two penalties in the final frame, the first being a slash by Logan Stanley with about 7 minutes left. One thing that stood out about the Jets tonight was their ability to prevent the Wild from getting easy shots on goal, as they only managed 19 all game.

With 30 seconds left, with the Wild net empty, Kyle Connor scored what he thought was an empty-net goal to secure the Jets’ victory. However, behind the play, Dylan DeMelo took a cross-checking penalty just a few seconds before Connor shot the puck, meaning the whistle blew the game dead. Scott Arniel was not happy with this call and the Wild were given a 6 on 4 power play to end regulation.

After a Wild faceoff win, Quinn Hughes dropped Kirill Kaprizov low. Kaprizov sent the puck back to Mats Zuccarello, who fired one past Hellebuyck to tie the game with just 22 seconds left. Tonight’s game needed overtime as the game was tied at 3 with the shots on goal 25-18 for the Jets.

Overtime

After the Jets got their first and only overtime shot to start the 3 on 3, the Wild scored on their first and only overtime shot. Tonight’s 3 stars and the Wild’s 3 best players were all on the ice for the winning goal. Kirill Kaprizov entered the Jets zone before finding Quinn Hughes. Matt Boldy approached the best shooting position in the slot, and Hughes quickly found him before Boldy fired one past Hellebuyck to win the game for the Wild.

Tonight’s game looked like one where the Jets were going for two big points, but as you know in hockey, it’s not over until it’s over. The Wild showed why they have been doing so well lately in the late stages of this game, and it resulted in them gaining two points. After tonight’s loss, the Jets are now 0-2-3 in their past 5 games. There have been some small but noticeable improvements in these games, but the Jets still have a lot of work to do if they want to win hockey games often like they did last season.

Next

The Jets will now look to reset before playing their final home game of 2025 as their regular season schedule continues Monday night with a game against the Edmonton Oilers. Puck drop for this game will take place just after 6:30 PM CT. Stay up to date with all the latest Jets news, plus previews and recaps of every Jets game this season, right here at Jets Nation.

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