COLUMBUS, Ohio – Even coach Mike Yeo is blown away by Marco Scandella's sudden scoring prowess.

Not only does the Wild defenseman have nine goals in 30 games and four in his past six, they're usually coming on absolute scorchers from the point.

Scandella scored his fourth winning goal of the season, second among NHL defensemen, Monday in Winnipeg.

"I don't know if his sticks are better or what now, but how many times did you used to see him wind up for that big slapper and the sticks would break?" Yeo said on the eve of his team's attempt to get back to the .500 mark on the road (9-9) with a New Year's Eve match against Columbus.

"With the torque that was on that shot [Monday] night, that must be a pretty strong stick."

Actually, Scandella hasn't changed his stick. He still uses the CCM/Taylor Made RBZ Stage 1 stick. But it's an inch shorter at around 61 inches, he has changed the flex in his blade and he changed his grip.

"I practiced a lot in the summer on changing my technique up, trying to get it off quicker and when I have time, winding up hard," Scandella said. "I used to hold my [left] hand a little lower down on my stick and now I put it higher and let the stick do the work. I used to have a lot more flex in the blade. Now the blade's stiff and it's all below my hands."

But when it comes down to it, Scandella is just confident.

"I'm just trying to fire it hard every time," he said. "I have a lot more confidence this year in my shot. In junior, I felt I had a lot of confidence in it. I got a lot of good looks, and I was taking good windups. Once you get to pro hockey, it's harder. But now I'm getting back to finding my groove and I try to shoot as hard as I can. I try to put everything into it every time."

Scandella's mentor, Wild defenseman Ryan Suter, is hoping to catch some of what Scandella has. Suter hasn't scored since opening night, although he went the first 40 games without a goal last season before scoring five in the next four games.

"They come in bunches. That's what I hear," Suter said, laughing. "Hopefully I can get Scandy's luck."

Suter's game, so good before he came down with the mumps Dec. 3, has taken a turn. In the first 20 games, he had 10 assists and was plus-13 logging 29 minutes, 14 seconds a night. In the past 12 games, he has 11 assists and is minus-11 at 30:23 a night.

He is coming off a tough game in Winnipeg.

"I struggled. Couldn't handle the puck and I can't really get much worse than [Monday], so things can only look up," Suter said, sarcastically. "I just have to work a little extra harder now to get out of the funk. Minuses are piling up lately, but that's what happens when you don't win. … When you haven't scored in a while and the other stuff keeps adding up, you're confidence isn't the highest and you start thinking too much."

Yeo has no concerns about Suter.

"He's just like our team. There's been some mistakes, and it seems like every time there has been one, it ends up in the back of our net right now," Yeo said. "But I know talking to him the other day, his head's in a good place."

Yeo said the Wild might look to decrease some of Suter's workload to help get his 'A' game back. In fact, the Wild is considering trying Scandella at times on the top power-play unit, although that won't necessarily be to replace Suter.

"Every player has ebbs and flows through the course of the season," Yeo said. "I have no concerns [about Suter]."

Notes

Goalie Niklas Backstrom (illness) is feeling better and ready to rejoin the Wild for practice. The Wild might even fly him to Columbus even if only to skate with the team Wednesday morning. But winger Jason Zucker still is ill.

Defenseman Jonas Brodin feeling better, but General Manager Chuck Fletcher doesn't want to risk his health to fly him to Columbus for one game.