Sergei Bobrovsky gets shutout for Blue Jackets

COLUMBUS -- Sergei Bobrovsky made 38 saves for his fourth shutout of the season, and Brandon Saad scored for the Columbus Blue Jackets in a 1-0 win against the Minnesota Wild at Nationwide Arena on Thursday.
On Tuesday, Bobrovsky made 29 saves but lost by the same score in overtime at the Montreal Canadiens.
Saad scored at 4:32 of the third period for the Blue Jackets (40-16-6), who are 3-0-1 since returning from their five-day break.

"This time of the season it's going to be tightening up. It's tough to score now," said Bobrovsky, who got his 16th NHL shutout. "The guys helped me out. They made the huge blocks at the perfect time when I can't see or it's tough to see. I appreciate that. They made the smart plays at the right time."
WATCH: All Wild vs. Blue Jackets highlights
Devan Dubnyk made 39 saves for the Wild (41-15-6).
Saad's 19th goal gave Columbus the lead on its 32nd shot after he took a stretch down the right wing by Nick Foligno. Dubnyk made the initial save off his chest but could not gather the rebound and Saad followed to poke it in.
"I know it got deflected on the way in so it was tough for him to read," Saad said. "I was trying to get ugly to the net. It kind of fell there. I tried to get a stick on it and somehow it found its way in."

Minnesota had a 1-0 lead taken off the board at 7:23 of the second period after a video review ruled that Wild forward Erik Haula kicked the puck toward the net. It went off the skate of Blue Jackets forward William Karlsson into the goal.

Goal of the game

Saad scored after coming down his off wing and finding the loose puck for the rebound.

Save of the game

Bobrovsky stopped an Eric Staal breakaway at 14:13 of the second period. "I was looking to go low blocker and he didn't even go down so I should have went through his legs," Staal said. "It would have been an easy one."

Unsung performance of the game

Blue Jackets defenseman David Savard played 22:19, including 4:09 on the penalty kill, had two takeaways, three blocked shots and was plus-1.

Highlight of the game

Bobrovsky came up big during the Wild's second power play in the first period when he slid across the crease to save a Martin Hanzal shot after a cross-ice pass by Charlie Coyle.

They said it

"That's a real good hockey team. They were great in their end. We did a good job of trying to get pucks to the net and from my end I could see they were doing a good job of collapsing and making it tough, and you've got [Bobrovsky] down there doing what he does and making big saves, and obviously that's why they're successful. It was a good hockey game." -- Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk
"That's a team you have to be patient with because that's how they play. … I'm very proud of us. I thought we bent at times but found a way to win a 1-0 game. That's a huge credit to [Bobrovsky]. He was outstanding." -- Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno

Need to know

Minnesota's Zach Parise and Jason Pominville missed their third straight game because of mumps. … Defenseman Kyle Quincey and forward Lauri Korpikoski made their Blue Jackets debuts after being acquired in trades on Wednesday. … In their last meeting on Dec. 31, Columbus won 4-2 to extend its winning streak to 15 games and stop the Wild's at 12. Since then, Minnesota is 18-6-2 and the Blue Jackets are 14-11-2. … Bobrovsky made 18 saves in the third period. … Each team was 0 for 4 on the power play. … The Blue Jackets played in two straight 1-0 games for the first time in their history. .. The Blue Jackets have consecutive home shutouts. Joonas Korpisalo defeated the New York Islanders 7-0 on Saturday. The last time the Blue Jackets got two straight shutouts at home was Dec. 3, 2013, against the Tampa Bay Lightning, and Dec. 6, 2013, against Minnesota.

What's next

Wild:Host the San Jose Sharks on Sunday (6 p.m. ET; FS-N, FS-WI, CSN-CA, NHL.TV)
Blue Jackets: At the Ottawa Senators on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; CITY, FS-O, NHL.TV)