Cup contenders now after losing to the eventual-cha

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Sure, the season has barely begun. The Minnesota Wild were still a bit anxious, having lost their first three games. This time, they produced the start-to-finish, end-to-end performance theyve been seeking. Matt Cooke had a goal and an assist, and Josh Harding made 14 saves for the Wild in a 2-1 victory on Thursday night over the Winnipeg Jets, their newest rival in the recreated Central Division. "I think its natural to have, for lack of a better word, a panic, but I think if you honestly looked at those games in an unbiased way we carried the play for most of it each game," Cooke said. The Wild lost all three games by one goal, two after regulation ended. Though they clung to a one-goal lead all night, they outshot the Jets 30-15 and were in control the whole time. They set a franchise record by winning 74 per cent of the faceoffs, 45 of 61. "Its the little things that add up to make a difference, and thats what we saw," coach Mike Yeo said. Jonas Brodin scored first for the Wild on Ondrej Pavelec, who stopped 28 shots. He has played all four games for the Jets and allowed 12 goals, but he didnt have any help in this one. "We never start with the puck," coach Claude Noel said. "We chased pretty much the whole night and never created very much through the neutral zone." Bryan Littles goal in the final minute of the first period during a 5-on-3 power play tied the game for the Jets, who played their second road game of the season. After scoring five goals in each of their first two games, the Jets have only three goals and 32 shots over their last two contests. "Were trying to be too cute. Were at our best when pucks are deep and we can work off the forecheck," said right wing Devin Setoguchi, facing his former team for the first time. Though Chicago is closer to Minnesota by car, Winnipeg is the nearest as-the-crow-flies city to St. Paul. The Manitobans dont miss an opportunity to take advantage of the proximity and root in person for their Jets on the road. Chants of "Lets go Jets!" were rampant up to and after the opening faceoff, particularly after Little knocked in the rebound of Tobias Enstroms shot with 42.8 seconds left in the first period. But the Wild were hit with penalties on Brodin (holding) and Kyle Brodziak (hooking) within 4 seconds of each other to set up that Jets goal, but beyond that they were nearly flawless. Winnipeg was listless at times. "I dont think we had a lot of jump," captain Andrew Ladd said. "They do a pretty good job of clogging up the neutral zone, and to get shots you have to get pucks back." Puck possession is precisely what Yeo emphasized in training camp. That was a weakness last season. The Wild have outshot their opponent in every game, including 54-19 in the second period. "Were getting good opportunities. Pucks are going to keep finding our sticks. Weve just got to bear down and put them in," left wing Zach Parise said. Yeo shuffled the lineup, moving Jason Pominville to the second line and Nino Niederreiter to the first line while sending his Cooke-led third line out to start the game. Cooke assisted on Brodins goal, taking the shot that the second-year defenceman poked in with the shaft of his stick. Then the 35-year-old left wing swooped in after a shot by Torrey Mitchell to knock a rebound under Pavelecs pad for a 2-1 lead. "We want to be at the net. We want to go at the net. We want to go to those tough areas. I want to be there as much as I can," Cooke said. Harding replaced Niklas Backstrom 12 minutes into the first period at Nashville on Tuesday night after Backstrom hurt his knee. Harding, the reigning Masterton Trophy winner after overcoming a multiple sclerosis diagnosis last year, gave up just one goal on 20 shots in 48 minutes against the Predators. He was sharp again against Winnipeg. NOTES: Little lost 19 of 20 faceoffs. ... Dustin Byfuglien had an assist for the Jets, his fifth of the season. Little has three goals, including one point in each game, and Enstrom has five assists. ... Brodin has two goals, matching his rookie total in 45 games last season. Hockey Jerseys China . Marcus Olsson, 23, joins Blackburn on a free transfer from Swedens Halmstads. He made 139 appearances and scored 17 goals in his four years with the club. He earned his first caps for Sweden this month, featuring against Bahrain and Qatar. Cheap NHL Jerseys Online . With their coach gone, they finally played offence the way he would have wanted. Amare Stoudemire made all seven shots in the first half, Anthony passed and shot well, and the Knicks shook off the surprising departure of their coach to rout the Portland Trail Blazers 121-79 on Wednesday night, snapping a six-game losing streak. http://www.cheapnhljerseysusa.com/ . Dougie Hamilton and Jordan Caron scored in the first period after the Red Wings had miscues on the ice and Tuukka Rask finished with a 23-save shutout, giving Boston a 3-0 win over the Red Wings and a 2-1 series lead in their first-round series. Discount Hockey Jerseys . Dallas also Monday recalled defenceman Aaron Rome from his conditioning assignment with the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League and assigned goaltender Jack Campbell to the AHL squad. Cheap NHL Jerseys Authentic .com) - The Chicago White Sox have officially announced that the club has agreed to terms with utilityman Emilio Bonifacio on a one-year, $4 million contract that includes a team option for the 2016 season.PHILADELPHIA -- Despite all the changes made in the front office and behind the bench, Ryan Kesler was not satisfied with the Vancouver Canucks path. He still wanted out. "It just seemed like the direction they were going didnt fit what I thought my career was going to be," Kesler said. "At the end of the day I want to win a championship and I want to win it now, and four years is a little too long for me." Not wanting the situation to "fester" like the Roberto Luongo saga did under his predecessor, general manager Jim Benning sought a quick resolution to that problem. He found it Friday by trading Kesler and a 2015 third-round pick to the Anaheim Ducks for centre Nick Bonino, defenceman Luca Sbisa and the 24th and 85th picks in this weekends NHL draft. "He just felt he needed a fresh start and quite frankly we dont want somebody that doesnt want to be here," Benning said Friday afternoon before the draft began. "Were going to acquire high-quality people that are going to come in here and want to work hard for one another, so we didnt give it much thought." Kesler, who turns 30 in August, asked for a trade during what he called a "painful" regular season full of losing that ended without a playoff appearance and ultimately cost GM Mike Gillis and coach John Tortorella their jobs. He met with Benning after the season and reiterated that he wanted to go somewhere he could win. But the Livonia, Mich., native wouldnt go anywhere. His full no-trade clause allowed him to dictate his destination, and the only two teams hed approve a trade to were the Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks. Benning said the Canucks asked Kesler and agent Kurt Overhardt about expanding that list, but to no avail. Chicago was "in it right until the end," according to Benning, but it was important to him to get a potential No. 2 centre and a player who could grow into a top-four defenceman. He hopes he has that in the 26-year-old Bonino and 24-year-old Sbisa. Bonino had 49 points this past season -- some of that thanks to playing with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry -- while Kesler had 43. Sbisa missed time with a torn tendon in his hand but has been considered a top prospect since before he was traded to Anaheim from the Philadelphia Flyers for Chris Pronger at the 2009 draft. "Getting Bonino was an important piece ... (for) being able to replace his goal production for our team next year," Benning said. "Getting Luca, he gives us some physical play from the back end. Hes strong. He plays like a heavy game and I think in our division his heaviness is going to come in handy for our group." When Benning wrapped up the Kesler trade Friday afternoon, he was just getting started making moves. The Canuccks traded defenceman Jason Garrison to the Tampa Bay Lightning for the 50th pick in the draft and then flipped the 85th pick acquired from the Ducks to the New York Rangers for grinder Derek Dorsett.dddddddddddd Trading Garrison brings salary-cap relief in the form of $4.6 million over the next four seasons. Acquiring Dorsett means some familiarity, as he played under Desjardins with the WHLs Medicine Hat Tigers. Despite the bevy of moves, Benning refused to call the Canucks approach a "rebuild." "We acquired players that we thought are going to have an impact on us winning next year," he said. "If it was going to be a rebuild then maybe we wouldnt have tried to fight so hard to get players that can come in and help our team win next year." If Kesler believed the Canucks, under the new direction of president Trevor Linden, Benning and coach Willie Desjardins, were going to win next year, he most likely wouldnt have asked to be traded. The 2003 first-round pick had played his entire career with the Canucks, all 655 games worth. But on his post-trade conference call, Kesler made it clear he wouldnt have been happy sticking around. "The fact that theyre in a rebuild and are looking to get younger and are years away from being a contender, I think it was just time for me to move on and win and hopefully take home a championship," Kesler said. Keslers fond memories of Vancouver included getting drafted, scoring his first goal (with an assist from Linden) and going to the Stanley Cup final in 2011. But much has changed since then, and the Canucks are a team in transition. The Ducks, on the other hand, consider themselves Cup contenders now after losing to the eventual-champion Los Angeles Kings in seven games in the Western Conference semifinals. But something had to be done to make that next step. "We knew we needed (a centre to play) behind Ryan Getzlaf," Anaheim GM Bob Murray said. "This is a huge move for our hockey team. Were better today than we were yesterday." Even though Murray was insistent from the beginning of negotiations that the Ducks were not willing to part with the No. 10 pick Friday night, the Canucks built toward being a better team down the line by getting a first-round pick at 24 and stockpiling with others. Vancouver took Calgary Hitmen winger Jake Virtanen, an Abbotsford, B.C., native and Canucks fan through childhood, with the sixth pick. Shoulder surgery will keep Virtanen from being able to take contact until at least the fall, but this was another move designed for the long-term future. In the short term, Kesler gets an opportunity to play behind Getzlaf for a contender, while the Canucks get to move on. "I didnt want this to linger," Benning said. ' ' '