The Wild Warmup is presented by Bryant Heating and Cooling
After a 7-1 victory in Detroit, the Wild has a quick turnaround as it heads south to face the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night at Nationwide Arena.
It will be the second meeting in the past four days for the expansion cousins; Minnesota defeated Columbus 5-4 at Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday night.
Mikko Koivu scored two goals in the win, doubling his season total in a 7 minute, 42 second span in the second period.
Eric Staal, Ryan Donato and Kevin Fiala also tallied goals in the game.
The Blue Jackets have not played since the game in St. Paul, but for the Wild, Staal, Donato and Fiala again all recorded goals on Thursday night against the Red Wings.
The trio were three of the 13 Wild players to record a point in the 7-1 win.
Ryan Hartman opened the scoring, tallying his eighth goal of the season 7:52 into the first period. Just 27 seconds later, Hartman was on the scoresheet again, this time assisting on a Donato goal.
"A lot of guys got on the scoresheet," said forward Jordan Greenway. "Guys are feeling good, so it's good to have a little swagger going into these next few games."
Later on in the first period, Matt Dumba beat goalie Jimmy Howard with a one-timer to score his fifth goal of the season.
But Dumba wasn't done there. He scored his second goal of the night on a power play to make it 4-1 after receiving an Alex Galchenyuk pass with just the goalie to beat. The goal gave Dumba his first multi-goal performance since Dec. 11, 2018.
Greenway and Fiala would pile on with second-period tallies before Staal provided the final salvo in the third period.
Pierre-Luc Dubois leads the Blue Jackets with 28 assists and 46 points, while Oliver Bjorkstrand leads the team with 21 goals.
Zach Werenski, who scored against the Wild on Tuesday night, leads NHL defensemen with 19 goals this season. He has also tallied 19 assists, with his 38 points leading team defensemen.
Goalie Matiss Kivlenieks, who made 35 saves in the loss on Tuesday, has a 1-1-2 record in four starts this season. The 23-year-old has recorded a 3.03 goals-against average and a .897 save percentage.
Rookie Elvis Merzlikins, who was out with an undisclosed injury on Tuesday, is 12-9-8 in 30 starts this season, recording a 2.39 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage. Joonas Korpisalo has an 18-10-4 record in 31 starts this season, with a 2.48 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage.
Related:
- Wild wins the right way Thursday night in Detroit
- Postgame Hat Trick: Wild 7, Red Wings 1
- From Tuesday: Focus turns to Koivu as Wild spurns Blue Jackets
