The calendar says that Dec. 21 is the darkest day of the year. On a chilly Dec. 21 night in Winnipeg, the Minnesota Wild could not offer much light amid their recent struggles.
The Wild's special teams again provided no help with a man advantage, and they could not stop the NHL's best power play, as Winnipeg cruised to a 5-0 win.
The loss was Minnesota's season-worst fourth in a row and came as the Jets scored on two of their five power plays, while the Wild's power play was powerless. It was the first time that Minnesota has been shut out this season.
Minnesota goalie Jesper Wallstedt, making his second start of the season, had 19 saves but fell to 0-2-0. Winnipeg, which has blasted its way to the best record in the Western Conference thanks in large part to the work of the league's top goaltender, got 19 saves from Connor Hellebuyck, as they improved to 3-0-0 versus Minnesota this season. It was his 15th career win versus the Wild, and his fourth by shutout.
The Minnesota power play got an opportunity just 92 seconds into the game when Ryan Hartman was hooked on a rush to the Winnipeg net. But as it had done five times on Friday night, the Wild's man-advantage unit moved the puck and produced chances while failing to convert.
Instead, in a frustrating replay of recent struggles, the Wild took a first period penalty, and the Jets needed just six seconds to take the lead. Winnipeg doubled its lead later in the first when Wallstedt thwarted a Jets rush to the net, but he could not cover in time to prevent Morgan Baron from swatting in the loose puck.
In the second period, Winnipeg's power play needed 14 seconds to make it 3-0 on a long-range blast by former Minnesota Duluth star defenseman Neal Pionk. Meanwhile, Minnesota's power play went 0-4 on the night after going 0-5 the night before.
Shortly after the Wild's fourth power play failed to convert, an uncharacteristic turnover by defenseman Jonas Brodin left Winnipeg's Cole Perfetti wide open in front of Wallstedt, where a quick wrist shot made it 4-0 for the home team.
Perhaps the Wild's best scoring chance came while killing a penalty in the third period as a Winnipeg turnover sparked Brendan Gaunce and Marat Khusnutdinov on a 2-on-1 break. Hellebuyck made the initial save on Gaunce's shot, kicking out a rebound that was perfectly placed for a tap-in. But Khusnutdinov failed to get a shot off, preserving the Winnipeg shutout.
Just seconds later, with the teams skating 5-on-5, a shot by Pionk that was tipped eluded Wallstedt for a 5-0 Jets lead.
Khusnutdinov had two more fruitless chances to score later in the third, including clanking the post behind Hellebuyck.
The Wild return home for a Monday night meeting with Chicago prior to the three-day holiday break.