Recap MIN 10-12

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Kirill Marchenko scored his fourth NHL hat trick, and Elvis Merzlikins made 48 saves for the Columbus Blue Jackets in a 7-4 win against the Minnesota Wild at Grand Casino Arena on Saturday.

Blue Jackets at Wild | Recap

“I just know I will score if I have a lot of shots,” Marchenko said. “Supposed to be going in. Just every chance that you seek.”

Zach Werenski and Boone Jenner each had a goal and two assists, and Adam Fantilli had a goal and an assist for Columbus (1-1-0), which lost to the Nashville Predators 2-1 on Thursday.

“We really liked our composure,” Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said. “Maybe I didn’t hold it as well as the players did, but they did a real good job of holding their composure, certainly early in that hockey game when we could have gone sideways when they scored their first two.”

CBJ@MIN: Marchenko notches his fourth NHL hat trick

Kirill Kaprizov scored twice and had an assist, and Matt Boldy had one goal and two assists for Minnesota (1-1-0). Filip Gustavsson made 25 saves after posting a shutout in a 5-0 win at the St. Louis Blues on Thursday.

All four goals for the Wild were scored on the power play (4-for-8).

“I thought it was a weird game in that sense,” Minnesota coach John Hynes said. “Still, as you said, digesting. I think there was a lot of different components to tonight that I think we’ll go through and take some things out of it and move on.”

Miles Wood beat Brock Faber to a dump-in before finishing a wrist shot five-hole on Gustavsson to give the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead at 2:29 of the first period.

Marchenko increased it to 2-0 seven seconds into the second period. Dmitri Voronkov fed Marchenko on a give-and-go, who finished a wrist shot from atop the left circle.

“I can score more. Just shoot the puck,” Marchenko said. “It’s not really hard work. I just work on my shot and my partners make great passes too. And I try to do my best work.”

Boldy cut the deficit to 2-1 at 6:18 on the power play. Kaprizov tried to pick the corner from the right dot and Boldy picked up the loose puck down low for the putaway. Columbus issued a coach’s challenge citing goaltender interference, but video review determined it was a good goal.

Kaprizov scored a power-play goal to tie the game 2-2 at 8:24. Boldy passed low to Kaprizov, who wired a snap shot in from along the goal line. It was Kaprizov’s first goal of the season.

“I think we played pretty solid but then we gave up a little bit too many chances for them -- I don’t even know if it’s too many but it’s too easy for them to get good scoring chances and they scored,” Eriksson Ek said. “We just gotta clean that up I think.”

Marchenko buried his second goal of the game to put Columbus up 3-2 at 18:48 after Werenski’s point shot went off Voronkov’s skate to Marchenko in the low slot.

Werenski made it 4-2 at 1:11 of the third period with a shot through traffic from between the circles.

“When you can have nights like that and still come out with two points, it’s a successful night,” Werenski said.

Marchenko completed the hat trick at 3:01 with one-timer from the left circle during a 5-on-3 for a 5-2 advantage.

Zeev Buium brought it 5-3 with his first NHL goal at 9:54 on the power play. Joel Eriksson Ek backhanded a pass to Buium in the left circle for a one-timer.

“Obviously, scoring feels really good and getting that first one, but at the end of the day you want to compete, and you want to win,” Buium said. “They had some crazy bounces but yeah, can't sit on it. Just move on."

CBJ@MIN: Buium wires the puck upstairs on the power play for his first career goal

Jenner sent a shot on net that deflected off Fantilli to extend the lead to 6-3 at 10:47.

Kaprizov scored his second goal at 15:49, tipping in a Marco Rossi pass at the top of the crease while on the power play for a 6-4 score.

Jenner scored into the empty net at 18:34 for the 7-4 final.

“Elvis was obviously huge, made timely save after timely save all night and kept us ahead or kept us tied when we needed it,” Jenner said. “… Really happy with the response and grow off it.”

NOTES: Blue Jackets defenseman Erik Gudbranson left during the third period with an upper-body injury. No update was provided postgame. … Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin was a minus-2 with one shot and two blocked shots in 16:57 of ice time in his season debut after missing the first game with an upper-body injury. … Marchenko’s second goal was the fastest goal to start a period in Blue Jackets history. The previous mark was set by Patrik Laine on Feb. 17, 2022 (0:09 in period two). … Werenski recorded his 80th career multipoint game and tied Jenner for the third-most in Blue Jackets history behind only Rick Nash (137 games) and Cam Atkinson (81 games).

Interested in a 2025-26 Blue Jackets Ticket Plan? Fill out the form below and a Blue Jackets representative will reach out with more information along with an invitation for an arena tour, including two complimentary tickets.

Choose the games and seats you want with plans starting at 11 games and savings of up to 40%. PLUS, enjoy flexible payment options and score bonus tickets for family & friends!