Minnesota Wild Breeze Past the Winnipeg Jets

The Minnesota Wild started the preseason off slow when they lost to the Buffalo Sabres by a margin of 3-2. Since then, they have played four games, and have won three. Most recently, they beat their Central Division foe, the Winnipeg Jets, by a score of 8-1.

The Wild showed up in front of a home crowd Sunday night ready to play. The line-up, which looks a lot like the one fans will be seeing when the regular season starts, had eleven different players record points.

A team that usually has difficulty scoring didn’t hesitate Sunday, as four of the Wild’s eight goals were posted in the first period.

Matt Dumba, one of the Wild’s young players, had a stellar game, as he posted four points. Among the other players who recorded points were Charlie Coyle, Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise, Nino Niederreiter, Jonas Brodin, Thomas Vanek, Jason Pominville, Nate Prosser, Jared Spurgeon and Mikael Granlund. The Jets’ lone scorer was Mathieu Perreault.

Devan Dubnyk, the Wild’s starting goaltender, played solid in net, making saves on 18 of the 19 shots he faced; similar to the performance the Wild would like to see from him this season.

Mike Reilly, a newly signed defenseman from the University of Minnesota, saw ice time during the game, and posted a plus/minus of +2.

The Wild have one game remaining in the preseason, a rematch against the Buffalo Sabres at home. Their regular season opens up on Oct. 8 against the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center in Denver.

Like to go Wild? Check out Growing up Hockey: Charlie Coyle in our latest player featured interview!