Fleury makes 30 saves, Wild shut out Blue Jackets for 4th straight win

COLUMBUS -- Marc-Andre Fleury made 30 saves for the Minnesota Wild in their fourth straight win, 2-0 against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Thursday.

Fleury's second shutout of the season was the 73rd of his career, which is 12th all-time in the NHL.
Minnesota played without defensemen Jonas Brodin (upper-body injury) and Jon Merrill (illness).
"Great team effort," Fleury said. "We had some guys out on the [defense], but we have some depth back there. The guys blocked a lot of shots and let me see the puck."
Kirill Kaprizov and Brandon Duhaime scored in the first period for the Wild (32-21-5), who are 5-1-1 in their past seven games.
"That's kind of what we stressed, a big start, and we went out and played like it in the first period," Duhaime said.
Joonas Korpisalo made 23 saves for the Blue Jackets (18-35-5), who are 3-2-1 in their past six games.
"They don't give up much. There are a big body team, they're well coached, they're big on the wings," Columbus coach Brad Larsen said. "They've got solid [defensemen]. Their goaltender's good. They defend. They are a hard man-on-man [team] too, so if you're not getting inside and you're not beating your guys, it's going to be a long night.
"They're one of the top teams in their goals against for a reason. It's not by fluke; it's by design."

Duhaime made it 1-0 at 3:01 of the first period, scoring at the crease on his own rebound after a centering pass by Frederick Gaudreau.
The goal came on the Wild's sixth shot. They had two the rest of the period but still made it 2-0 at 8:48 when Kaprizov scored with a wrist shot from the right circle to make it 2-0 at 8:48. Five of his 34 goals have come in his past six games.
"It's night-and-day to get up, obviously," Wild coach Dean Evason said. "If you get a lead, you can really solidify what you're doing. We can really bear down and wait for our opportunities rather than push."
Fleury made 12 saves in the second period.
"We had our opportunities," Blue Jackets defenseman Erik Gudbranson said. "They made it tough for us to score for sure. To get the first two that quick there were little mistakes that we wish didn't happen."

Fleury's best sequence came at 14:35 of the third period when he gloved a Johnny Gaudreau shot from between the face-off circles after a turnover, then saved Boone Jenner's rebound during a scramble.
"He's a living legend," Korpisalo said of Fleury. "He's still going strong. It's really cool to see him playing the same level he has the last 20 years."
Fleury started for the first time in four games.
"He's a stud," Duhaime said. "Everyone knew he would respond like that. It's pretty standard for him."
NOTES: Center Joel Eriksson Ek had a 10-game road point streak end to remain tied with Eric Staal (2016-17) for the longest streak in Wild history. Eriksson Ek had 13 points (five goals, eight assists) during the streak. … Minnesota forward Marcus Foligno returned after missing four games with a lower-body injury. He had two hits and a blocked shot in 13:38 of ice time. … Brodin and Merrill were replaced by Calen Addison and
Dakota Mermis
, who made his season debut after being recalled from Iowa of the American Hockey League. … Gaudreau had three shots on goal in 20:46 after missing the previous two games (lower body) to end his streak of 349 consecutive games played. … The Wild host the Blue Jackets on Sunday. Prior to that, Minnesota plays at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday. Columbus hosts the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.