Wild never showed up for this one

Paul Vernon, Associated Press

Antti Miettinen and Columbus’ Fredrik Modin fought for the puck during the first period. Miettinen and Marek Zidlicky scored for the Wild.

Columbus rookie Nikita Filatov outscored the entire team. "Not enough energy," Jacques Lemaire said of his Wild.

By MICHAEL RUSSO, Star Tribune

Last update: January 10, 2009 - 11:49 PM

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COLUMBUS 4, WILD 2

Up next: 7 p.m. Tuesday vs. Arizona • Xcel Energy Center • Ch. 45, 830-AM

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COLUMBUS, OHIO - Half of Columbus' roster might be in triage, including superstar Rick Nash, but the Blue Jackets still had more than enough rookie star power to blow by the Wild 4-2 on Saturday night at Nationwide Arena.

The Wild got an up-close-and-personal view of the future of its expansion counterpart, and it's daunting.

Nikita Filatov, 18, the 175-pound sixth overall pick in June's draft, became the first Blue Jackets rookie to notch a hat trick. He was playing just his sixth NHL game, and his second since scoring eight goals for Russia in the world junior championships.

Filatov logged 9 minutes, 59 seconds of ice time -- more than enough to outscore the offensively decrepit Wild (28 goals in the past 17 games).

"I have so many emotions, so many feelings," Filatov said.

Jakub Voracek, 19, the seventh overall pick in the 2007 draft, assisted on all three of Filatov's goals. Veteran linemate Michael Peca had two assists.

"I am almost 35, and their combined age is 37, so I knew I was going to have fun," Peca said.

Steve Mason, 20, made 21 saves for his 15th victory. Derick Brassard, 21, was having a Rookie of the Year campaign before season-ending shoulder surgery.

Being lousy for so long has delivered blue-chip prospects to Columbus. On the other hand, the Wild's competitiveness since Day One has left it lacking star-studded talent.

The Wild's lone top-five pick in the lineup, Benoit Pouliot (fourth in 2005), had another indiscernible game, other than being bumped off the puck most shifts.

"When you look at their team, they beat people one-on-one," Wild coach Jacques Lemaire said. "How many times we beat people? You know, Mikko [Koivu] does that. [Eric] Belanger, and then you've got to search. We've got to get speed.

"They're good with the puck. They've got good shots. The chances we had, we had the wrong guy with the puck -- you know, missed the shot ... missed the net ... over the net ... missed the puck."

After winning the first two games on this four-game trip, the Wild finished 2-2 to slip to 10th in the West. The team brought in the season's midway point with 43 points -- five fewer than last season.

"It looked like we played last night, and that's happened a few times," Lemaire said. "Not enough energy. This is not good enough. You've got six guys tonight, I was trying to find holes to put them in. That's too much."

Derek Dorsett, 21, opened a three-goal Columbus explosion in a 4-minute, 12-second span early in the third period to break a 1-1 tie.

"This cannot happen. Show up like this? Cannot happen," Lemaire said. "I thought the first period was fine. Second period, I thought we would be better and we were not. I said, 'Third period, we'll probably get our legs and get going.' It was even worse. We had no legs at all."

Josh Harding got the start over Niklas Backstrom, who is nursing a slight, undisclosed injury. But Backstrom practiced Saturday morning, backed up Harding and said he's ready for the upcoming three-game homestand.

"It felt good all day," Backstrom said.

Filatov's first goal came on a breakaway when defenseman Martin Skoula got caught in between. Harding charged out. Big mistake.

"Right when I took off, I knew I shouldn't have," Harding said.

But Antti Miettinen tied the score when Mason lost sight of his 60-footer. But in the third, a neutral-zone turnover resulted in Dorsett's 2-on-1 goal after he lost Owen Nolan. Then, Filatov took over.

"They have a lot of talent, but they're missing a couple guys," Harding said. "This was a game we had to win. I don't know if I can say that any of Filatov's goals should have gone in. I'm kind of at blame here. I felt good going into the game. Out there, everything fell apart."