WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- It wasn't pretty. In fact, at times it was downright ugly. But the Minnesota Wild just keep doing what they do best -- winning hockey games.

Jason Zucker scored with just over two minutes to play as a depleted Minnesota squad escaped with a 6-5 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night at the MTS Centre.

Winnipeg erased a three-goal deficit with a frantic push in the final frame, only to have Zucker break their hearts and put a major dent in their playoff pursuit.

"I think that shows the resiliency of this group," Zucker said. "(But) That's not going to fly come playoff time. We've got to shore that up. I'm sure we're going to watch some video tomorrow and make sure we're getting better. But we can't use that as an excuse, missing a few guys because you never know what's going to happen."

Minnesota was without key forwards Zach Parise and Jason Pominville after both came down with the mumps earlier this week. They were also playing for the second time in as many nights, following a 5-4 overtime victory against Los Angeles on Monday.

"We weren't very good at all. After the first period, I thought we got lucky. It was one of those games you got lucky," Minnesota coach Bruce Boudreau said.

Winnipeg was coming off its league-mandated break and playing for the first time in a week. However, if there were any signs of rust, Mark Scheifele and Patrik Laine certainly didn't show it. The pair needed 1:02 to open the scoring as Scheifele fed Laine in the slot for his 31st goal of the season.

But Minnesota soon began to take over the game. First, Mikael Granlund snuck in behind the Jets defense and got a breakaway pass, making no mistake on the deke for his 21st goal of the year at 3:02 of the opening period.

At 14:19 of the first, Granlund made a ridiculously good pass from his knees into the slot, where teammate Tyler Graovac made no mistake to give the Wild a 2-1 lead.

Paul Postma then was sent to the penalty box with a five-minute boarding major after a big hit against Minnesota defenseman Ryan Suter, which knocked him out of the game with an upper-body injury. The Wild then capitalized near the end of the power play as Erik Haula banked a shot in off Hellebuyck to make it as 3-1 lead after the first period.

Minnesota extended the lead at 8:03 of the second period as Marco Scandella's seeing-eye shot from the blue line somehow beat Hellebuyck.

Winnipeg got one back at 9:32 as Adam Lowry crashed the net and jammed a puck past Minnesota goalie Darcy Kuemper.

The Wild restored their three-goal lead -- and chased Hellebuyck from the game -- when Ryan White scored on a wrist shot. It was the second goal in as many games for White, who joined Minnesota in a trade last week.

"He was like our team in a lot of ways, in that it wasn't easy for him finding it or hanging on to it. I didn't think there were a lot of easy stops there for him. Those are the things you gotta fight through as a young goaltender. You gotta learn how to handle it," Jets coach Paul Maurice said of pulling his rookie goaltender.

The Jets began to mount a comeback late in the middle frame, with Mathieu Perreault firing home a shot from the slot at 17:37, cutting Minnesota's lead to 5-3.

Joel Armia scored a goofy goal midway through the third period as his shot went over the net, off the glass and deflected off Kuemper's back and into the net at 9:35.

Mark Scheifele then scored on a wicked wrister at 11:17 to make it 5-5. That was the end of the night for Kuemper, who gave way to Devan Dubnyk.

Winnipeg had several chances to score late in the period, including a pair of power-play opportunities. However, the Wild stormed back with Zucker's game-winner at 17:50 just as overtime seemed imminent.

"Every game matters so much now. To lose it in the last two minutes is tough," Scheifele said following the game.

Dubnyk stopped all seven shots he faced for the win. Kuemper made 24 saves before exiting.

Granlund had a goal and two assists for the Wild, a stat line matched by the Jets' Perreault and Scheifele.

Michael Hutchinson stopped six of seven shots in relief of Hellebucyk, who was beaten five times on 21 shots.

"We were able to battle back but it was just a heartbreaker at the end," Perreault said. "I don't think it's anything we did wrong defensively. It was just a matter of putting their chances in."

Minnesota (41-14-6) leads the Central Division and the Western Conference.

Winnipeg (28-30-6) is fighting to stay in the playoff chase. The Jets sit five points back of the final wild-card spot held by the St. Louis Blues, and have only 18 games left.

"Yeah, our season's on the line. We gotta win games,'' Perreault said. "We're five points back and we were able to battle back in this game, it was huge. We got a couple of power plays and weren't able to score and (then) they score. It was just brutal.''

The Jets continue a six-game homestand by hosting the Blues on Friday. Minnesota continues its road trip by playing Thursday night in Columbus.

NOTES: NHL teams are 8-15-4 in their first game back after the league-mandated five days off. Minnesota is one of the eight teams to enjoy success, winning 5-4 in their return to action Monday night against Los Angeles. ... Wild C Tyler Graovac did what very few professional hockey players do -- play games on four consecutive nights. Graovac suited up for the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League on Saturday and Sunday, and joined Minnesota for its games Monday and Tuesday. ... Winnipeg is 14-8-1 against its Central Division rivals this year. However, four of those eight regulation losses came at the hands of the Wild. ... Minnesota has 88 points on the season -- one more than its 82-game total from last season. ... Winnipeg scratches on Tuesday were D Jacob Trouba (serving final game of two-game suspension), D Julian Melchiori and F Andrew Copp. Minnesota was without F Zach Parise (mumps), F Jason Pominville (mumps) and D Nate Prosser.