Wild lose to Jets again 4-2 despite Kirill Kaprizov’s two goals

They shouldn’t have been, but the Wild were competitive.

Led by their best player Kirill Kaprizov, they had a chance to break through — more than once. But when they needed that decisiveness, they faltered.

“Too many passengers,” John Hynes said.

The Wild coach was describing a 4-2 loss to the Jets Saturday at Xcel Energy Center, but he could have been reflecting on the entire season.

Beleaguered by injury, the Wild haven’t had enough of a lift from their support players — especially at key times, like division games — and that’s contributed to their current plight: they’re on the brink of being mathematically eliminated from the playoffs with six games left on their schedule.

“It’s a tough feeling, for sure,” Mats Zuccarello said. “But at the end of the day, that’s the reality right now. You reassess and have to be better.”

Kaprizov supplied all the Wild’s offense, twice answering back after Winnipeg secured the lead, but no one on the Wild had a reply for the Jets’ third go-ahead goal from Alex Iafallo at 13 minutes, 39 seconds of the second period.

Another deflection, this time from Morgan Barron off a shot by former Minnesota-Duluth defenseman Dylan Samberg at 9:46 of the third, was unnecessary insurance.

Winnipeg, which is playoff-bound and still jostling for seeding at the top of the Central Division, swept the four-game series vs. the Wild, who wrapped a six-game homestand by dropping two in a row. They start a season-high five-game road trip Sunday afternoon at Chicago.

“Just frustrating to be in this position,” said goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who made 21 stops.

Before he assisted on the Jets’ last two goals, Vladislav Namestnikov sent a rolling puck behind Fleury just 2:33 into the first period.

Kaprizov responded for the Wild with a spinning backhander, a highlight-reel goal considering he capitalized with his back to the net.

His second goal was a torrid one-timer on the power play at 15:42 after Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor buried a 2-on-1 rush 3:58 earlier.

Overall, the Wild went 1-for-4 on the power play; Winnipeg was 0-for-2.

Mats Zuccarello set up both Kaprizov goals, the longtime linemates reuniting after mostly being on different lines since the All-Star break.

“It feels good to play together again,” Kaprizov said.

Not only is Kaprizov one goal shy of reaching 40 for a third consecutive season, he’s on a six-game point streak and has a 10-game point streak at Xcel Energy Center to become the first player in Wild history with multiple double-digit home point streaks; the winger also had a 14-game run in 2022-23.

But as has been the case throughout the season, the Wild couldn’t deliver the next game-altering play.

They didn’t pry the lead away from the Jets, nor did they make another rally after Iafallo’s final tiebreaker.

“We worked hard, and it’s not enough,” Zuccarello said. “We’ve been playing good teams. We work hard. But like I said, it’s not enough right now.”

Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck stopped all 10 shots he faced in the third period en route to a 25-stop showing.

“You just need more,” Hynes said, “whether it’s depth scoring or energy or physicality, ending shifts in the offensive zone.”

BOXSCORE: Winnipeg 4, Wild 2

NHL standings

This is unusual territory for the Wild to be so close to elimination with a week-plus left in the regular season. They’ve missed the playoffs just once since 2013.

“It’s always tough,” Kaprizov said. “It’s not fun. Just finish season early after regular season. It’s where we are now.”

But to call the games still on their calendar meaningless would be incorrect.

Hynes still wants to see improvement — and soon — with a problem the Wild haven’t been able to fix.

“Right now, we’re at a point now where we need everybody going in the lineup, from a competitive aspect of the game, to give ourselves a chance to win,” Hynes said. “We’ve done that, but I’d like to see a better performance from numerous people in tomorrow’s game.”