Jets open with win over Wild

Joe Morrow felt a bit like he was wearing glass slippers instead of skates on Wednesday.

The Jets defenceman scored at 12:47 of the third period to lift the Winnipeg Jets to a 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild in Game 1 of their first-round NHL Western Conference playoff series.

“I’ve had a major rollercoaster of an NHL career so far,” Morrow, 25, said. “To have a little, I don’t even know if you want to call it a Cinderella story of a night tonight, it makes you feel good.

“It makes all of the bad times and all of the times you’ve battled so hard to try and get an opportunity, it makes them go away. It washes them away and you get to enjoy it in front of a crowd like this and a city like this.”

Morrow was acquired at the trade deadline from Montreal in exchange for a fourth-round draft pick in the 2018 NHL Draft. He’d played 38 games for the Canadiens. His career started in 2014-15 with Boston, where he got into 65 games over three seasons. He also played in the American Hockey League from 2012.

“Awesome to see a guy step in, new to the team a little bit, and have a huge effect,” said Jets captain Blake Wheeler. “He’s fit in seamlessly with our group.

“For a guy like him it’s tough, because he’s never really had an established role. Somebody who’s kind of on the outskirts, or in and out a bit.”