Perfetti Scores Twice as Jets Top Wild 5-2

Cole Perfetti keeps finding the net, and Winnipeg's top line is humming. Perfetti scored twice Tuesday night, Mark Scheifele stacked a goal and two assists, and the Jets beat the Minnesota Wild 5-2 at Canada Life Centre to stay rolling at 4-1-1.

Kyle Connor added a goal and an assist. Neal Pionk set up two. Stuart Skinner stopped 19 shots. Kirill Kaprizov scored both Minnesota goals in the first period, and that was all the Wild could squeeze out against a line that refused to cool off.

How the top line took over

Perfetti opened the scoring at 1:50 of the first, tipping Pionk's point shot under Calvin Pickard's blocker on Pickard's Minnesota debut. Scheifele made it 2-1 late in the period on a cross-crease tap-in from Pionk after earlier drawing the helper on Perfetti's opener, his 300th career assist on home ice.

Kaprizov answered twice in the first, including a tip of Quinn Hughes' shot that knotted it 2-2. Perfetti put Winnipeg back ahead 3-2 on the power play at 16:36 of the second with a one-timer from the left hash. Connor spun off Tyler Pitlick and rang a high-slot wrist shot in off the post early in the third, and Cole Koepke finished a 2-on-1 for 5-2.

"They're so much fun to play with," Scheifele said of Connor and Perfetti. "I'm just really lucky to be able to play with those two guys. They were absolutely fantastic." Perfetti, on Scheifele's vision: "You're always open. Even when you think you're covered... all of a sudden the puck's on your stick."

Perfetti's early heater

The 24-year-old already has eight points in six games, including five goals, a mark that took him 40 games last season, per Sportsnet. He signed a five-year, $30 million extension over the summer and landed on a revamped top unit with Scheifele and Connor after Gabriel Vilardi shifted down to balance scoring.

Coach Scott Arniel loved the pace and net-front habits. He also flagged the other problem: beyond that trio, the rest of the roster has five goals combined, with 13 skaters still searching for their first. Secondary scoring is the next ask.

Minnesota played without Jared Spurgeon (late scratch, upper-body) after placing Nico Sturm on injured reserve earlier Tuesday. Pickard called himself "jittery early" and credited Winnipeg's low-to-high look with bodies at the net.

Next stop: Chicago

The Jets head to Chicago on Thursday to face the Blackhawks, who are pouring in goals early. Winnipeg's top line just dropped seven points on a rival. If the supporting cast starts finishing the looks Arniel keeps showing on video, this group can stack wins on the road. For now, Perfetti's stick is the safest bet in the building.