Wild & Jets Trade Goals, Minnesota Wins in OT
ST. PAUL, Minn. -— Joel Eriksson Ek and the Minnesota Wild put on quite a show for the first full house at Xcel Energy Center in 19 months.
The Wild were overwhelmed with gratitude for their off-the-ice help, from start to finish.
Eriksson Ek had a hat trick, batting in an airborne puck to tie the game with 59 seconds remaining in regulation and winning it on a power play in overtime to stun the Winnipeg Jets 6-5 in a raucous home opener on Tuesday night.
Ek scored on a 3-on-1 rush to beat Connor Hellebuyck, who has given up 14 goals in three losses to start the season.
Hellebuyck stopped 38 shots. Cam Talbot made 25 saves for the Wild, none bigger than the denial of Logan Stanley on a 2-on-1 right before Eriksson Ek's winner.
The first game between these teams in 653 days was as feisty and frenetic as ever as if both sides were trying to make up for the lost time to the pandemic-tailored 2020-21 season that had the Jets facing only Canadian teams.
The Wild host Anaheim on Saturday while the Jets play Anaheim on Thursday in their home opener.
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