ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Wild are having enough trouble snapping out of their current funk let alone a years-long rut.

They lost their ninth in a row to the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night at Grand Casino Arena, getting dumped 4-3 in overtime to drop a season-high fourth straight game.

This is their worst start of the Kirill Kaprizov era; the Wild have nine points through 11 games (3-5-3), their fewest since they had eight after beginning 4-7 in 2019.

Kyle Connor scored the overtime winner for the Jets.

Trailing 2-0, the Wild got goals from Kirill Kaprizov, Brock Faber and Marcus Johansson to take a 3-2 lead and turn the page on another difficult first period that saw Winnipeg capitalize twice in 22 seconds.

But former Wild winger Nino Niederreiter tied the game with 8:25 left in regulation.

Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck made 33 saves while Filip Gustavsson had 18 stops for the Wild.

How it happened

For the fifth consecutive game and seventh time in their past eight, the Wild gave up the first goal, this time getting behind 12:16 into the first after Gabriel Vilardi batted in a puck at the side of the Wild net.

By 12:38, Winnipeg was up 2-0 on a play indicative of how little puck luck the Wild have had during their skid: A shot going wide bounced in off an unsuspecting Vladislav Namestnikov.

But erasing a two-goal deficit has become old hat for the Wild.

After doing that three times before falling 6-5 in overtime to the Sharks on Sunday, they rallied again in the second period.

Kaprizov ended a goal-mouth scrum caused by a shot from captain Jared Spurgeon when he backhanded in the loose puck in the crease at 6:03. The assist was Spurgeon’s 300th, while Kaprizov’s 401st point moved him into fourth all-time in Wild history.

Then, finally, the Wild caught a break: Faber’s shot sailed over the net, but the carom off the boards flew into the slot and was kicked in at 13:12 by Hellebuyck as he turned to scramble back into position.

Turning point

Despite getting bit by a bad call, the Wild persevered.

They had a power play late in the second period cut short after Matt Boldy was penalized for high sticking when it was actually the puck that hit Dylan DeMelo up high.

After getting back to full strength in the third, Vladimir Tarasenko drew a slashing penalty, and the Wild received another favorable bounce when Johansson got a piece of Faber’s point shot before the puck went off Luke Schenn and into the Jets net.

The power play finished 1 for 4, while Winnipeg went 0 for 1.

Johansson has four goals during a three-game streak.

But Niederreiter got the tying goal off a rush with another former Wild forward, Gus Nyquist.

Key stat

The Wild have lost four straight Central Division games since their season-opening win at St. Louis.

What it means

This was a game where the Wild deserved better.

That hasn’t always been the case — they’ve clearly looked out of sorts at times during this dip — but they were more determined vs. the Jets.

Still, their execution isn’t doing them any favors.

Tyler Pitlick didn’t get a quality shot off on a breakaway in the first, and then Danila Yurov sent the rebound wide. That puck Eriksson Ek threw through the crease in the second epitomized the Wild’s slide, although they were the beneficiary of some quirky puck plays. But the Wild also worked for them, the team finally getting to the inside regularly and making life difficult for the opposing defense.

Maybe that’s enough of a step in the right direction to suggest there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.

Up next

The Pittsburgh Penguins stop by St. Paul on Thursday night for the first of two meetings between them and the Wild.

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