Wild laments 'missed opportunity' in Game 1 loss to Jets

WINNIPEG -- For the better part of 40 minutes in Game 1 of its First Round Stanley Cup Playoff series against the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday, everything was going according to plan for the Wild.
Minnesota was chipping pucks deep, content to chase down the puck with a stifling forecheck and wait patiently for offensive opportunities to present themselves.
A late power-play goal aside, the Wild trailed by just one going into the second intermission, on the road, in one of the most hostile environments in the NHL.

When Matt Cullen and Zach Parise scored goals 2:12 apart early in the third period, giving Minnesota the lead it craved, all that stood between the Wild and a big win in the first game of the series was 16 minutes of more of the same.
Unfortunately for the visitors, it couldn't replicate it.
Patrik Laine scored off a turnover less than a minute later, the Wild went 12 minutes without even a shot on goal and the Jets scored the game winner nearly eight minutes later, holding on for an eventual 3-2 win.
"There were parts where they had the momentum a little bit, and then we answered and had the momentum," said Wild forward Mikko Koivu. "We just couldn't find the rhythm after [the Laine goal], we couldn't get near their net and close to the areas that you usually score the goals. They defended well and we couldn't find the holes."
The most frustrating aspect of the loss was how Minnesota played for a bulk of the game, working its game plan to near perfection, limiting Winnipeg's high-danger chances. Confident in its goaltender, Devan Dubnyk, the Wild was more than willing to allow the Jets quantity, as opposed to quality.
The Jets had a 13-4 edge in shots after one, but few of those chances came from in tight and Minnesota never had to "weather a storm" to start the game.
The Wild may have been the better team in the second, but trailed when Mark Scheifele scored a power-play goal with 2:23 remaining in the period, breaking a scoreless tie.
But after taking the lead, Minnesota couldn't build on it.
"We had stretches where we played alright," Cullen said. "I think we view this as a missed opportunity. I don't think we played as well as we can, I think we showed pieces of our game. But I don't think we played to our level to be honest with you. We have better."
Jordan Greenway made a fantastic pass to Matt Cullen for a snipe from the slot as the Wild tied the game 1:46 into the third.

Koivu's blocked shot sent Mikael Granlund and Parise into the offensive zone 2-on1. Granlund dragged the puck around a defenseman and centered a pass to Parise for a tap in moments later, and Minnesota was in business.

"When we got to that point, we were in a good spot," said Wild forward Eric Staal. "It did seem like we pulled off the gas a little bit and they came at us. They got a break on the winner, but we need to be better."
That break came when Joe Morrow's shot deflected off Charlie Coyle's stick on the way to the net. But from the time Parise put Minnesota ahead until that moment, it hadn't posted a shot on goal, a span of nearly nine minutes.
In that time, the Jets tied the game, then took the lead back.
"They picked up the pace a little bit and when they scored, like anything else, they got the emotion and we sagged a little bit, and that was it," said Wild coach Bruce Boudreau. "We gave them the second goal, and the third goal was a deflection off our stick. They were coming, but I thought we were handling it. We made a couple young mistakes, and it was in. We can play a lot better than we played tonight. There's no doubt in my mind. But they got the momentum from the crowd and kept coming."
Now it's up to the Wild to answer the bell in Game 2 before the series shifts back to St. Paul over the weekend. If the first 40 minutes Wednesday are any indication, Minnesota has the ability to do it.
It also has the belief.
"I think we have a lot of confidence in our group," Cullen said. "I think there's more disappointment that we didn't play to our level. I have a lot of confidence that we'll respond and play the right way next game.
"We just didn't make that extra play and when we got ahead there, we took a breath. Honestly, that's natural, but if you're going to be successful in the playoffs for a long stretch and you're gonna win 16 games, you have to find a way to keep your foot on the gas the entire 60 minutes."
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- Playoff Central - Postgame Hat Trick: Jets 3, Wild 2 - Watch: Dubnyk denies Ehlers on breakaway