Jets vs. Wild: Cole Perfetti Scores Twice as Winnipeg's Top Line Outguns Kirill Kaprizov

Every coach has a line combination he scribbles on a whiteboard and quietly hopes will work. Scott Arniel put Cole Perfetti next to Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor, and on Tuesday night it looked less like an experiment and more like a group chat where everybody answers on the first ping.

Perfetti scored twice, Scheifele had a goal and two assists, Connor added a goal and an assist, and the Winnipeg Jets beat the Minnesota Wild 5-2 at Canada Life Centre. Kirill Kaprizov scored both Minnesota goals, but one superstar cannot outrun a line that piled up seven points by itself.

Punch, Counterpunch, Repeat

The first period played out like two boxers trading in a phone booth. Perfetti struck just 1:50 in, drifting into the slot and tipping Neal Pionk's point shot under the blocker of Calvin Pickard. Kaprizov responded at 8:47, jumping on a Dylan Samberg pass inside the Winnipeg zone. Stuart Skinner stopped the first whack, but Kaprizov batted the loose puck home out of midair.

Winnipeg went back in front at 17:54 on a sequence worth a second look. Pionk wheeled around the net and slid a cross-crease feed to Scheifele for the easiest goal of his night. Minnesota needed only 44 seconds to reply, as Kaprizov got a stick on a Quinn Hughes shot and redirected it under Skinner to make it 2-2.

Arniel did not love the period, even with the score level. "They're a real good hockey team and they kept, sort of, punch-for-punch in that first period," the Jets coach said. He wanted cleaner breakouts from his own end in the early going.

The Turning Point: 31 Seconds of Power Play

The second period was a slog until special teams decided it. Perfetti went off for hooking at 5:24, and Minnesota's power play came up empty. Then Bobby Brink was sent off for hooking at 16:05, and Winnipeg needed just 31 seconds of the advantage. Gabriel Vilardi found Perfetti, who hammered a one-timer from the left hash mark at 16:36 for a 3-2 lead.

That goal flipped the night. Winnipeg never trailed at any point, but this was the first lead it carried into an intermission, and the Wild never pulled even again.

Connor made it 4-2 at 4:06 of the third with a goal that felt like a closing argument. He spun away from Tyler Pitlick in the high slot and snapped a wrist shot that clanged off the post and in. Cole Koepke finished things at 14:42, turning a 2-on-1 with Vladislav Namestnikov into a low wrist shot past Pickard on the stick side.

Star Watch

Cole Perfetti: Two goals, five on the season and a promotion that already looks permanent. The AP pointed out that he needed 40 games to reach five goals last season. He is there before the middle of October. Perfetti spread the credit around, praising Pionk's vision on the Scheifele goal. "He knows when to shoot, he knows when to make the pass," he said.

Mark Scheifele: A goal and two assists, even while winning just two of his 10 faceoffs. Arniel raved about his anticipation and hunger for the puck. "He loves the puck. Obviously, loves to have it and get it early," the coach said. Scheifele was happy to pass the praise down the bench. "I'm just really lucky to be able to play with those two guys. They were absolutely fantastic. It was fun," he said.

Kyle Connor: A goal and an assist. He has scored in three straight games and in five of six this season, per the AP. NHL.com noted it was his 116th career third-period goal, tying Ilya Kovalchuk for second most in franchise history behind Scheifele's 137.

Kirill Kaprizov: Two goals in 20:02 and a league-leading eight on the season, according to the AP. NHL.com noted these were his 45th and 46th career game-tying goals, moving him past Zach Parise for third in franchise history behind Mikko Koivu and Marian Gaborik. He has five goals in his past three games. "He's a threat that's very difficult to stop," Wild coach John Hynes said.

Quinn Hughes: An assist on the second tying goal in a monster 28:25 of ice time, stretching his season-opening point streak to seven games with two goals and eight assists.

Stuart Skinner: 19 saves on 21 shots. He is 3-0-1 and has yet to lose in regulation this season.

Stats That Matter

• 7: Points from the Perfetti, Scheifele and Connor line, which had a hand in four of Winnipeg's five goals.
• 8: Goals for Kaprizov, the most in the NHL according to the AP.
• 34-22: Minnesota's edge in hits. The Wild made it physical and still lost by three.
• 58 percent: Minnesota's faceoff rate. Winning the draw and keeping the puck turned out to be two different skills.
• 1 for 2: Winnipeg's power play, with the conversion that broke the tie. The Wild went 0 for 2.

What It Means

Winnipeg moves to 4-1-1 with nine points, has won four of its past five and closed a three-game homestand at 2-1. The Jets head to Chicago on Thursday. Perfetti sounded like a player who likes where this is going. "I think we're in a good spot right now," he said.

Minnesota slips to 4-2-1, also with nine points, after a two-game winning streak ended. The Wild were playing the second half of a back-to-back after beating Vegas 4-2 on Monday, and Pickard made 20 saves on 25 shots in his first game for Minnesota. "I was definitely jittery early," he admitted. "The guys played well early, and then (Winnipeg) kind of took over." The Wild host St. Louis on Thursday.

Hynes gave the Jets' top unit its flowers. "They play the game straight ahead, they're very competitive on pucks when they're called upon to defend," he said, adding that the three are "playing in sync right now."

Closing Take

Kaprizov did his part, scoring both of Minnesota's tying goals. But hockey is not a solo act, and on Tuesday the Jets had a full band while Minnesota had a lead singer. Pickard summed it up best: "They get low to high and they got bodies in front of the net, and that's a good recipe to score in this league." Winnipeg followed the recipe to the letter. If Arniel keeps this trio together, the rest of the league is going to need a cookbook of its own.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details from the Associated Press; postgame quotes and notes as reported by NHL.com.