The Jets battled back down 3-0 before falling 4-3 in overtime to the Utah Mammoth on Sunday night. Tonight, back from the Holiday break, the Jets played their 2nd last home game of 2025 against another strong Central Division opponent: the Minnesota Wild. Canada Life Centre was the host for tonight’s game, as the Jets looked to pull off an upset against the 3rd place team in the NHL league 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 switch up mainly their forward line combinations. Gabriel Vilardi went back up to line 1, playing alongside Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele. Alex Iafallo moved up to line 2, Morgan Barron moved up to line 3, and Nino Niederreiter moved down to line 4. Logan Stanley continues to cycle between three different defense partners (tonight it was Luke Schenn), after Colin Miller and Haydn Fleury were previously in Schenn’s spot.

Connor Hellebuyck got another start in goal, as Hellebuyck continues to start in goal since returning from knee surgery ahead of schedule. The Jets lineup continues to be fully healthy and injury free. Hellebuyck entered tonight’s game with a 9-8-2 record, a 2.48 GAA and an impressive .912 SV%. The Jets took their 1st lead of the night at the end of the 2nd period, but a last minute goal from the Wild led them to soon after win tonight’s game in overtime.

Tonight’s game started off a little slower paced, but it was somewhat to be expected as both teams haven’t played in a while. Josh Morrissey opened the scoring tonight, as Gabriel Vilardi and Kyle Connor set up him up at the point for one of his famous well placed slap shots. Jesper Wellstadt didn’t have a chance on this one, and the Jets took a 1-0 lead midway into the 1st.

Less than a minute later, Jake Middleton and Logan Stanley dropped the gloves in an entertaining fight. With 91 seconds left in the 1st, Matt Boldy scored after Quinn Hughes and Jared Spurgeon set him up for deflection in front which went 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 played, the shots on goal were 10-5 Winnipeg, but this game was tied 1-1.

The 2nd period saw two powerplays for the Jets and one powerplay for the Wild. The goals in the 2nd matched what each team had for powerplays, however none of the three goals in the 2nd were scored on the powerplay. Kirill Kaprizov was sprung in on a partial breakaway after Danila Yurov and Mats Zuccarello set him up, and he made no mistake as he went to the backhand before putting the puck in the back of the net.

After gaining the 2-1 lead, the Wild looked to be somewhat in control of 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 set him up in front for an elite snap shot.

Two minutes later, the Jets took a 3-2 lead. Jonathan Toews, who was on fire in the faceoff dot all night, won a faceoff and tied up his man. Mark Scheifele picked up the puck and fired a wrist shot past Wallstedt with just 3 seconds left in the 2nd period. Tonight’s game was pretty even after 40 minutes played, and the Jets found themselves with a one goal lead.

The 3rd period was a hard fought battle between both teams. The Jets took the only two penalties in the final frame, the first being a Logan Stanley slash with around 7 minutes remaining. One noticeable thing 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 prior to Connor shooting the puck, meaning the whistle blew the play dead. Scott Arniel wasn’t happy with this call, and the Wild got a 6 on 4 powerplay to end regulation.

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

After the Jets got their 1st and only shot of overtime to start the 3 on 3, the Wild scored on their 1st and only shot in overtime. Tonight’s 3 stars and the Wild’s top 3 players were all on the ice for the winning goal. Kirill Kaprizov entered the Jets zone before finding Quinn Hughes. Matt Boldy was approaching prime shooting position in the slot, and Hughes quickly found him before Boldy snapped one past Hellebuyck to win the game for the Wild.

Tonight’s game looked like one where the Jets were bound for a big two points, but as you know in hockey, it’s never over until it’s over. The Wild showed why they’ve been on a roll lately in the late stages of this game, and it resulted in them getting two points. After tonight’s loss, the Jets are now 0-2-3 in their past 5 games. There’s been some some small but noticeable improvements in these games, but the Jets still have lots to work to do if they want to start winning hockey games often like they were last season.

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