Wild winger Jason Pominville puts early struggles in the past

For the second consecutive second half of a season, Jason Pominville is heating up.

After a frail first half that included five goals and 14 points in 37 games, the Wild right winger entered Wednesday's game against the Chicago Blackhawks fresh off his first four-point game since 2011 and 13 points in nine games, tied for the most points in the NHL in that span.

In the past 15 games, he had five goals, 42 shots and 17 points.

"I feel good, I feel comfortable," Pominville, 34, said. "I don't know if I'm doing a lot of things different, but I'm just getting rewarded a little more for it. Earlier on, I was getting looks, I wasn't able to put any away and now they're finding a way to go in. I'm making plays, and it's nice for your confidence, for sure."

Pominville has settled into a third-line role with revolving linemates. He has been reunited with Nino Niederreiter and Erik Haula at times, he has seen Zach Parise on his left wing and Tuesday in Winnipeg, he played the first two periods with Niederreiter and Charlie Coyle, with Coyle playing center.

Pominville gave up a chance at his first hat trick with the Wild and third of his career when he passed to Niederreiter, who executed a terrific move on Dustin Byfuglien to seal the game with a goal into an empty net.

It was the type of class that Wild teammates always rave about with the former Buffalo Sabres captain.

Coach Bruce Boudreau has been delighted with Pominville since the homestand before the All-Star break.

"There were a couple games about three weeks ago I sort of put him on the fourth line and played him seven, eight minutes," Boudreau said. "He sort of just said, 'OK, that's it, I'm going to step it up,' and he has. And he has played really good since then."

In a planned swap to give each player looks before the March 1 trade deadline, Gustav Olofsson was recalled from Iowa of the AHL and Mike Reilly was reassigned Wednesday. Olofsson, paired with Nate Prosser, played his fourth NHL game and second of the season.

"I told [Reilly] on the plane [Tuesday night] he was much better than the first time around, so if the next time he comes up if he improves that much, he's going to be an NHL defenseman," Boudreau said. "He's got NHL skill and hockey savvy. It's just the experience of positioning, getting your body in the way of bigger forwards.

"He should just watch [Jared Spurgeon] for a night and see how that goes, and he'd learn a lot."

"There's really no secret formula. Everyone bought in, and with a depleted lineup, we've just found win and got great goaltending," Olofsson said.

The Wild is a fast, hardworking team, the type that traditionally would draw lots of penalties. But the Wild entered Wednesday's game with six power plays in the previous four games, including one each in three.

The Wild had 141 power plays this season, fewest in the NHL. Why?