ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - The Minnesota Wild shunned the new offensive style of the NHL and reverted to their pre-lockout defensive ways.
Todd White scored twice and the Wild held Columbus to just 16 shots Saturday night in a 3-1 victory over the Blue Jackets that snapped Minnesota's three-game winless streak.
Minnesota excelled on the penalty kill, fighting off eight of nine.
"This is exactly how I want them to play," said Wild coach Jacques Lemaire, contrasting the effort to Minnesota's 2-1 shootout loss in Columbus on Friday night. "I know I can't get that for 80 games, but as much as I can get, that's what I want. Even if we would've lost, to me it would have been a positive because I saw 20 guys work."
Minnesota's Manny Fernandez had 15 saves, improving to 4-1-1.
Near the midway point of the first period, David Vyborny opened the scoring with a controversial power-play goal. Nikolai Zherdev floated a knee-high pass across the front of the goal mouth, where the puck hit Vyborny's leg and deflected past Fernandez. After a lengthy video review, officials ruled Vyborny hadn't intentionally redirected the puck.
"We had a good start, and then it dropped off big time," Blue Jackets coach Gerard Gallant said. "We tried to get too cute and just stood around and watched Minnesota play instead of playing our game."
Minnesota tied it less than two minutes later on its first power play. White poked in his own rebound after a pass from Alexandre Daigle.
His second goal came with just 29.6 seconds remaining.
The Wild stepped up their second-period defense, holding the Blue Jackets to just three shots and blocking six Columbus drives. Minnesota got the only goal of the period when Brent Burns lifted a backhander past goalie Martin Prusek on the stick side.
"We let them take the game to us in Columbus, and tonight for the most part, they couldn't sustain the pressure," Wild forward Brian Rolston said. "I think we equaled their intensity. We had high energy and sustained it for three periods."
Prusek finished with 21 saves for his first loss.
"I don't think we played with any sense of urgency," Blue Jackets forward Todd Marchant said. "We got off to a good start, and then it slowly started to dwindle down."
Notes: Vyborny was taken to the dressing room with nine minutes to play after blocking Filip Kuba's shot. The puck appeared to hit Vyborny's left arm. ... Both teams killed extended 5-on-3 power plays in the second period. The Blue Jackets had a two-man advantage for 1:49, and Minnesota had one for 1:04. ... Minnesota D Andrei Zyuzin, who entered the game with just four minor penalties this season, was whistled for five on Saturday.
