Game Recap: Wild 3, Blue Jackets 1

COLUMBUS -- Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and an assist in the third period for the Minnesota Wild in a 3-1 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Saturday.

Marco Rossi and Mats Zuccarello also scored, and Filip Gustavsson made 23 saves for the Wild (3-0-2), who extended their season-opening point streak to give games.

The Wild became the fifth team in NHL history to not trail in regulation through each of their first five games in a season. Minnesota joined the 1969-70 Boston Bruins (seven games), the 2015-16 Montreal Canadiens, the 1990-91 Bruins (five) and the 1930-31 Maple Leafs (five).

“It's just because we've outworked the teams we've played so far,” Gustavsson said. “I think as a team, we've played some really good defensive hockey. We trust each other back there and everyone is doing their part of the job. It's made me comfortable.”

Yegor Chinakhov scored, and Daniil Tarasov made 32 saves for the Blue Jackets (2-3-0).

“We didn’t start on time,” Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski said. “If it wasn’t for (Tarasov), it could have been as lot worse in the first period. We have to give a better effort.

“We have a standard now of how we have to play. We’ve done that for four games and tonight we weren’t there. We’re going to learn from it and we’re going to move on. We’re not going to let it happen again.”

Rossi gave the Wild a 1-0 lead at 12:40 of the first period with a wrist shot from between the circles.

The Blue Jackets failed to score during a four-minute power play in the second period after Yakov Trenin was called for a high-sticking double minor.

“They’re a good squad, but we’re looking at ourselves here,” Blue Jackets forward Adam Fantilli said. “It doesn’t matter who we’re playing, we should be able to score on a four-minute power play.”

Columbus had four shots on goal during the four-minute man-advantage and went 0-for-3 on the night.

“We’re being junkyard dogs,” Wild defenseman Jake Middleton said. “That’s our mentality we’ve got going into our meetings and the kills right now and so far, so good.”

Kaprizov made it 2-0 at 2:52 of the third period just six seconds into a 5-on-3 power play. Brock Faber controlled the puck at the top of the offensive zone and found Kaprizov for a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle.

“I liked the first period a lot. That was the identity we want to play with,” Wild coach John Hynes said. “We got away from our game at the end of the second but I really liked how we came out in the third, the mindset we played with. We regathered ourselves, played the game the right way.”

Zuccarello made it 3-0 at 8:26, lifting a backhand over Tarasov’s right pad as he drove to the net.

Chinakhov cut it to 3-1 at 18:35 with a wrist shot from the right circle to push his point streak to five games (three goals, four assists).

“If we're not ready to play, it's on me, it's on the coaches, it's on the players,” Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said.

NOTES: Minnesota is on an 11-game point streak (9-0-2) against Columbus. … With his goal, Rossi extended his point streak to four games (two goals, three assists), tying his NHL best set Nov. 12-24, 2023 (one goal, three assists). … Wild forward Ryan Hartman (upper body) did not play. He skated in the morning and was considered a game-time decision by Hines. Forward Marcus Johansson (lower body) returned from missing one game and was minus-1 in 13:18 of ice time. … Wild forward Joel Eriksson Ek played with a full-face shield after missing two games because of a broken nose. He was minus-1 in 20:02 with five shots and four hits. … Blue Jackets defenseman David Jiricek played 11:23 and had an assist in his first game of the season after being a healthy scratch. … The Blue Jackets used seven defensemen and 11 forwards.