COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Wild will look to get back on track Thursday when it faces the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena.
Minnesota sustained perhaps its most disappointing loss of the season on Tuesday, a 4-3 defeat at the hands of the Arizona Coyotes. The Wild led the game 3-1 in the third period, but saw Arizona score three goals in the span of 5 1/2 minutes early in the final frame.
"It's tough. I think we got a little comfortable and stopped playing and they took it to us," said Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon. "There's a reason why the game is 60 minutes, and you have to play the full 60."
The loss snapped a brief two-game win streak for Minnesota as it begins a stretch of contests against some of the NHL's best teams, including the Blue Jackets, who began the day Wednesday second in the Metropolitan Division.
Minnesota's opponent on Saturday, Toronto, is currently third in the Atlantic Division, two points behind the Buffalo Sabres, who have the most points (36) in the NHL.
After that, a road swing through Western Canada begins Tuesday in Vancouver.
"The two points are so important right now. Our division is so close," Spurgeon said. "To be able to win games and string them together is huge. When you give away a game like [Tuesday], it hurts. But we're going to have to get right back to it."
The Blue Jackets have won five of their past seven contests and are coming off a 7-5 win against Detroit on Monday at Little Caesars Arena.
Columbus is led offensively by forward Artemi Panarin and his 26 points. Cam Atkinson is the team's leading goal scorer with 15 on the season and is just one point behind Panarin's scorching pace to start the campaign.
In all, Columbus has a dozen players who already have 10 points of more this season, including three with more than 20.
In goal, Sergei Bobrovsky has seen a bulk of the starts, posting a 2.74 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage. He's seen action in 16 games, posting a 9-7-0 record.
