Wild get past Blue Jackets, extend winning streak to 6

COLUMBUS -- Matt Boldy and Kirill Kaprizov each had a goal and two assists, and the Minnesota Wild extended their winning streak to six games with a 5-2 victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Thursday.

Joel Eriksson Ek scored the go-ahead goal in the third period and had an assist, Yakov Trenin had two assists, and Jesper Wallstedt made 27 saves for the Wild (21-9-5).

“The second period we didn't win enough battles and just didn't make enough plays coming out of the D-zone,” Eriksson Ek said. “It wasn't a good period. I think it shows a good character to be able to just regroup and come out and put together a pretty good 20 minutes at the end.”

Zach Werenski scored twice for the second straight game, and Jet Greaves made 23 saves for the Blue Jackets (14-14-6), who have lost six of seven.

“I feel like it's the same thing,” Werenski said. “Been saying we're playing well enough to win but it's getting old that we keep losing. I mean, enough is enough. It's unacceptable. And I get the whole thing where you’ve got to stay positive and move forward, and I agree with all that, but this is getting outrageous.

“We're a good hockey team and we're just losing games, so maybe we're not a good hockey team. I don't know. At the end of the day, you have to win games to be a good team. Yeah, it's frustrating. Definitely a good hockey team over there, but I don't think they're better than us. They just win.”

Eriksson Ek scored off a scramble near the left post to make it 3-2 at 11:50, and Kaprizov (18:08) and Boldy (18:46) each scored an empty-net goal for the 5-2 final.

Werenski made it 1-0 for Columbus at 15:20 of the first period with a one-timer from the right face-off circle on the rush.

Ryan Hartman tied it 1-1 on the power play at 13:30 of the second period. He was at the crease to redirect a pass from the left circle by Kaprizov.

Vladimir Tarasenko then put the Wild ahead 2-1 at 16:15 on a 3-on-1 after a giveaway by Damon Severson in the neutral zone.

“One of the things with our team is we have a really competitive group, and I thought we were light on pucks, we weren't skating and we weren't competing the way we need to compete,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “It looked like we were trying to skill our way through the game, and if we wanted to win the game that had to stop.

“It was a little bit better to end the second, but I give the players credit. I thought coming out in third period there was much more jam to our game, second effort, third effort. We were skating, we were winning more puck battles, and more the recipe that gives you a chance to win most nights, and we found a way to win it.”

Werenski tied it 2-2 at 17:39 with a snap shot from the right side after stealing the puck from Tyler Pitlick at center ice. Werenski became the first defenseman in Blue Jackets history to score multiple goals in consecutive games, but it wasn’t enough.

“At this point, we’ve got to figure out how to win games,” Columbus defenseman Ivan Provorov said. “Otherwise, our season will be done early. You can't fall behind now because it would be too hard to catch up.”

Wallstedt (10-1-2 in 13 games) set a Wild record for the fewest games to 10 wins in a season by a rookie. Kaapo Kahkonen did it in 14 games in 2020-21.

“I know us goalies sometimes get a lot of credit for shutting down games,” Wallstedt said, “but without our team and the way our defense has been playing and the way our forwards have blocked shots and good stick details, nothing would have been possible.”

NOTES: Werenski has 22 points (nine goals, 13 assists) in a 12-game home point streak and 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists) in his past 13 games. He extended his point streak to four games (eight points; four goals, four assists). … Eriksson Ek has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in a six-game point streak. … Wild defenseman Quinn Hughes played a career-high 32:02, the highest total by an NHL player in a non-overtime game this season. … Minnesota defenseman Carson Lambos was plus-1 with one shot on goal in 10:16 of ice time in his NHL debut. … Wild forward Marcus Foligno had three hits and played 14:32 in his 900th NHL game.