Jets push Wild to the brink

More adversity didn’t come as a surprise.

After all, this is the 2017-18 version of the Wild — a team beleaguered by bouts of injury, inconsistency and inexperience.

But after losing winger Zach Parise to a fractured sternum, it got worse for the Wild on Tuesday.

The team is on the brink of elimination after the Jets secured a 2-0 win in Game 4 in front of 19,277 at Xcel Energy Center to go up 3-1 in the firstround, best-of-seven series.

Winnipeg centre Mark Scheifele was responsible for both goals, the first a top-shelf finish off a Kyle Connor feed with just 28 seconds remaining in the first period — one of a few whatifs on the night for the Wild.

Earlier in the period, while the Wild were on the power play, centre Eric Staal took a crosscheck to the head from Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey in the middle of the slot.

Staal fell to the ice and struggled to get to his feet before skating gingerly to the bench. No penalty was called; if it had, the Wild would have had a twoman advantage.

Instead, the Wild failed to capitalize on the remainder of the power play and about only a minute-and-a-half after the Jets got back to full strength, Scheifele scored.

Hellebuyck ended up with 30 saves for his first career postseason shutout in a terrific bounce-back performance after he was pulled in Game 3.

His counterpart, Devan Dubnyk, was also solid — keeping the deficit at one nearly the entire way. Scheifele added an empty-netter with 11 seconds left. Dubnyk totalled 26 saves.

Maybe the Wild’s rally would have been successful with Parise in the mix. Before getting crunched between Scheifele and defenceman Ben Chiarot near the end of Game 3, he had scored in each contest — an impact the Wild certainly could have used Tuesday. He’s out week-to-week, though, a timeline that makes it entirely possible he’s played his last hockey this season.

Calgary cans coach: The Calgary Flames fired head coach Glen Gulutzan on Tuesday after two years with the club. Assistant coaches Dave Cameron and Paul Jerrard were also relieved of their duties.

Calgary held the Western Conference's final wild card spot Feb. 25 but finished 12th overall after finishing the season with just two wins over their final 11games.

Gulutzan reportedly had a year remaining on his contract with the Flames.