By Michael Russo mrusso@startribune.com
COLUMBUS, OHIO – Everybody can breathe easier.
With the Wild trending the wrong direction the past two weeks and gradually sliding into a playoff bubble spot, the bleeding was stopped Sunday night against one of the NHL's toughest home-ice teams.
The Wild ended the Columbus Blue Jackets' 12-game home point streak by handing them their first regulation loss at Nationwide Arena since Feb. 10 with a well-earned 3-0 victory.
"It was one of those games where everybody's mentally right in there," said Cal Clutterbuck, who had a strong game with linemates Kyle Brodziak and Charlie Coyle. "You could just feel the intensity, almost like a telepathic focus going through the bench. You can just tell everybody was zeroed in."
Ryan Suter and Coyle scored second-period power-play goals, recently acquired Jason Pominville had a goal and assist, and Niklas Backstrom responded from being pulled Thursday in Los Angeles with a 24-save shutout, the 28th shutout of his career.
Backstrom set the tone early with a clutch save on Cam Atkinson's attempted stuff and cruised from there. The NHL's leader with 20 victories improved to 21-2-4 all-time in his first start after being pulled and 17-0-2 since March 26, 2008.
"What a great response by [Backstrom]. That's what he does," coach Mike Yeo said. "Just a solid game all around. We had everyone going. … What you saw tonight is what our game is supposed to look like."