Postgame Hat Trick: Wild 5, Blue Jackets 4

Wild.com's Dan Myers gives three takeaways from the Wild's 5-4 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Tuesday night:

1. Mikko Koivu turned back the clock in a vintage performance.
The Wild captain scored twice in the second period, pushing Minnesota's lead from one goal to three goals and allowing fans inside Xcel Energy Center to breathe a little easier ... at least temporarily.

His first goal of the game, at 12:08 of the second, was his third of the season and his first since Nov. 9, snapping a 30-game drought.
He wouldn't wait nearly as long for his next one ... 7 minutes, 42 seconds of game time to be exact.
This time, Koivu backhanded a loose puck past Jackets goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks with 9.3 seconds left in the period. It ended up being a crucial goal, as Columbus scored twice in the first 3:16 of the third period to get back within a goal.

His second goal also set up an exciting third period for Koivu, who skated in his 1,021st NHL game on Tuesday night. The two-goal game was the 18th of his career, but the CapFinn has never had a hat trick.
2. Things got interesting in a real hurry.
Just 24 hours removed from a game in Columbus, it would have been easy for the Blue Jackets to go quietly into the Minnesota night. The Wild carried a three-goal lead into the second intermission, but the visitors refused to quit.
Emil Bemstrom made it 4-2 after a quirky bounce and a misplay by Alex Stalock in goal, and 81 seconds after that, Pierre-Luc Dubois made it a one-goal game after the puck ended up on his stick in a high-danger area in front.
Columbus had a couple of really good chances to tie it too, but Stalock came up with some timely stops, including one left-pad save on Zach Werenski, who leads all NHL defensemen with 19 goals this season.
3. Stalock's save allowed Kevin Fiala to extend the lead once again.
As it seems to happen in every Stalock victory, the South St. Paul makes a huge save, and within a minute or two, the Wild scores some sort of a big goal.

Well, the stop on Werenski saved the Wild's bacon, and bought Minnesota an extra minute to come up with yet another insurance marker. This time it was Fiala, depositing a nice cross-zone feed from Eric Staal just shy of the halfway point of the third period, that restored some order to festivities.
The goal for Fiala was his 17th of the year and his 14th point in the past 11 games.