Blue Jackets stump Wild in shootout
The Minnesota Wild dropped a home game to the Columbus Blue Jackets, 2-1 in a shootout Saturday at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
Wild goalie Darcy Kuemper was outstanding, allowing just one goal in 65 minutes of regulation and overtime. The Blue Jackets struck for the first goal of the game when Dalton Prout scored with just 22 seconds remaining in the first period.
Columbus was clinging to the 1-0 lead until Jason Pominville's 25th goal of the season tied the game, 1-1.
Minnesota seemingly had the shootout victory after Zach Parise and Mikko Koivu started the best-of-three contest with goals, but Columbus finished with three straight scores by Artem Anisimov, Mark Letestu and Ryan Johansen.
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Kuemper finished with 28 saves in the game. Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky finished with 30 saves and the victory. Afterward, Wild head coach Mike Yeo wasn't terribly upset with his team.
“I’m glad that we don’t have to play against that goalie again this year,” Yeo said, according to Wild.com. “He seems to really enjoy playing against us.”
Minnesota is 2-1-3 in the month of March, although they could just as easily be a perfect 6-0. They've lost three times via the shootout and their only regulation loss was a blown lead in Dallas. They're back on the ice Monday against the Boston Bruins.
