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Recap
Wild 3, Blue Jackets 1
Associated Press

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - The Minnesota Wild shunned the new offensive style of the NHL and reverted to their pre-lockout defensive ways.

Todd White scored twice and the Wild held Columbus to just 16 shots Saturday night in a 3-1 victory over the Blue Jackets that snapped Minnesota's three-game winless streak.

Minnesota excelled on the penalty kill, fighting off eight of nine.

"This is exactly how I want them to play," said Wild coach Jacques Lemaire, contrasting the effort to Minnesota's 2-1 shootout loss in Columbus on Friday night. "I know I can't get that for 80 games, but as much as I can get, that's what I want. Even if we would've lost, to me it would have been a positive because I saw 20 guys work."

Minnesota's Manny Fernandez had 15 saves, improving to 4-1-1.

Near the midway point of the first period, David Vyborny opened the scoring with a controversial power-play goal. Nikolai Zherdev floated a knee-high pass across the front of the goal mouth, where the puck hit Vyborny's leg and deflected past Fernandez. After a lengthy video review, officials ruled Vyborny hadn't intentionally redirected the puck.

"We had a good start, and then it dropped off big time," Blue Jackets coach Gerard Gallant said. "We tried to get too cute and just stood around and watched Minnesota play instead of playing our game."

Minnesota tied it less than two minutes later on its first power play. White poked in his own rebound after a pass from Alexandre Daigle.

His second goal came with just 29.6 seconds remaining.

The Wild stepped up their second-period defense, holding the Blue Jackets to just three shots and blocking six Columbus drives. Minnesota got the only goal of the period when Brent Burns lifted a backhander past goalie Martin Prusek on the stick side.

"We let them take the game to us in Columbus, and tonight for the most part, they couldn't sustain the pressure," Wild forward Brian Rolston said. "I think we equaled their intensity. We had high energy and sustained it for three periods."

Prusek finished with 21 saves for his first loss.

"I don't think we played with any sense of urgency," Blue Jackets forward Todd Marchant said. "We got off to a good start, and then it slowly started to dwindle down."

Notes: Vyborny was taken to the dressing room with nine minutes to play after blocking Filip Kuba's shot. The puck appeared to hit Vyborny's left arm. ... Both teams killed extended 5-on-3 power plays in the second period. The Blue Jackets had a two-man advantage for 1:49, and Minnesota had one for 1:04. ... Minnesota D Andrei Zyuzin, who entered the game with just four minor penalties this season, was whistled for five on Saturday.


Three star selections
1st:   WILLIE MITCHELL
2nd:   NICK SCHULTZ
3rd:   BRENT BURNS
Winning Goaltender
Manny Fernandez

Losing Goaltender
Martin Prusek

SCHEDULE

HOME
AWAY
PROMOTIONAL

STANDINGS

WESTERN CONFERENCE
  TEAM GP W L OT GF GA PTS
1 p - CHI 48 36 7 5 155 102 77
2 y - ANA 48 30 12 6 140 118 66
3 y - VAN 48 26 15 7 127 121 59
4 x - STL 48 29 17 2 129 115 60
5 x - LAK 48 27 16 5 133 118 59
6 x - SJS 48 25 16 7 124 116 57
7 x - DET 48 24 16 8 124 115 56
8 x - MIN 48 26 19 3 122 127 55
9 CBJ 48 24 17 7 120 119 55
10 PHX 48 21 18 9 125 131 51
11 DAL 48 22 22 4 130 142 48
12 EDM 48 19 22 7 125 134 45
13 CGY 48 19 25 4 128 160 42
14 NSH 48 16 23 9 111 139 41
15 COL 48 16 25 7 116 152 39

STATS

2012-2013 REGULAR SEASON
SKATERS: GP G A +/- Pts
V. Prospal 48 12 18 3 30
M. Letestu 46 13 14 7 27
M. Gaborik 47 12 15 -3 27
F. Tyutin 48 4 18 9 22
B. Dubinsky 29 2 18 2 20
N. Foligno 45 6 13 6 19
J. Johnson 44 5 14 -5 19
A. Anisimov 35 11 7 -6 18
C. Atkinson 35 9 9 9 18
R. Umberger 48 8 10 3 18
 
GOALIES: W L OT Sv% GAA
S. Bobrovsky 21 11 6 .932 2.00
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