Takeaways: Wild winning streak hits six with 5-2 victory at Columbus

The Wild keep righting their early-season wrongs.

Columbus spoiled the Wild’s home opener, but the Wild snagged the rematch 5-2 Thursday night at the Blue Jackets’ Nationwide Arena for their sixth consecutive victory after scoring three times in the third period to recover from a lull in the second.

“Shows character to be able to just regroup and come out and put together a pretty good 20 minutes at the end,” Joel Eriksson Ek told reporters in Columbus after he broke a 2-2 tie with 8 minutes, 10 seconds to go on a goalmouth scramble that could have been challenged by the Blue Jackets for goaltender interference but wasn’t.

Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy chipped in empty-net goals, while Ryan Hartman and Vladimir Tarasenko also capitalized. Yakov Trenin finished with two assists, and Jesper Wallstedt totaled 27 saves to help keep the Wild in third place in the NHL.

Zach Werenski scored both goals for Columbus, which ran away from the Wild in a 7-4 victory at Grand Casino Arena on Oct. 11. Jet Greaves made 23 stops.

During their winning streak, the Wild also beat Washington and Dallas after losing to both in the first month of the season.

They relied on another patchwork lineup with seven players now hurt after defenseman Daemon Hunt went on injured reserve earlier in the day.

Carson Lambos subbed in on defense to make his NHL debut in front of family, an appearance years in the making. The 22-year-old played the past two seasons in the minors after getting drafted in the first round (26th overall) in 2021.

Lambos logged 10:16, with his first shift coming on a Wild penalty kill.

“I thought it was a good first game for him,” coach John Hynes said. “I thought he had strong details to his game. He skated well. Strength-wise, I thought he looked good.

“I thought he played a simple, reliable, good first game.”

Werenski blocked an Eriksson Ek shot with his right skate in the first minute but showed he was no worse for wear on the Blue Jackets’ first goal.

That was the Wild’s biggest blemish in an otherwise solid start, but the Blue Jackets challenged them more in the second. They came close to going up 2-0, but Cole Sillinger whiffed on sending a shot into an open net.

“Obviously unfortunate for him,” Wallstedt said. “But lucky for us.”

The miss was huge for the Wild. They scored the equalizer only a few minutes later on their only power play when Kaprizov set up Hartman for a tap-in at 13:30.

Columbus went 0-for-2 on its power plays.

Just 2:45 later, the Wild moved ahead 2-1 on another seeing-eye sequence from the new-look Russian second line: Danila Yurov dropped the puck to Trenin, who fed Tarasenko for a wrister and third goal in his past two games.

But the momentum was short-lived.

With 2:21 to go in the second, Werenski picked the puck off Tyler Pitlick and threw a shot off the post and in for his 13th goal.

“We just weren’t ourselves,” Faber said. “We’re a team that wins puck battles, is hard on the forecheck, hard on the backcheck, good breakouts, and that’s just not at all what we were doing in the second period. Once we got back to that and that hard work, kind of kick-the-door-in mentality, that’s when our skill comes out, and obviously that showed in the third.”

In the third, Eriksson Ek scooped up a Trenin rebound and hauled it to the crease, whacking away at the puck until it rolled behind a sprawled Greaves.

The goal was Eriksson Ek’s fourth during a season-best six-game point streak. The center has been on a roll since his best game of the season Dec. 11 at Seattle; he was named the NHL’s Third Star of the Week for his role in the Wild going 4-0 last week.

The Wild are the only team in the NHL with multiple 20-goal scorers.

BOXSCORE: Wild 5, Columbus 2

NHL standings

Wallstedt (10-1-2) set a franchise record for fewest games (13) to 10 wins in a season by a Wild rookie goaltender.

“It was key saves at key times,” Hynes said, “and that’s what you need.”

But considering the state of the Wild roster, this was another gutsy effort.

They are in a busy part of their schedule, with another weekend back-to-back on deck during a three-game homestand before the holiday break. Quinn Hughes is still settling in after last week’s blockbuster trade, but the defenseman skated a career-high 32:02 — the most ice time by an NHLer in a non-overtime game this season. The Wild are also getting timely lifts from the chemistry among Tarasenko, Yurov and Trenin and a dominating Eriksson Ek while missing key players up front. Eriksson Ek, Kaprizov and Boldy have reunited seamlessly.

Even after an uneven second, the team was able to rediscover its competitiveness. When that’s in place, that’s a good indicator of the Wild sticking to the style of game that gives them the best chance to succeed.

“Good teams learn how to overcome the obstacles,” Tarasenko said. “One of the things is injuries, and of course we miss injured guys. But I think our team strength is when we all play on the same page and just give the new guys who come in the chance to fit in the game, and they’re playing very hard. They’re doing great.

“If team plays together, team can achieve a great result.”