The wins keep racking up for the Minnesota Wild, but so do the injuries as the third-place Central Division club takes a five-game winning streak to Columbus for a game against the Blue Jackets on Thursday.
Minnesota took down the Washington Capitals, 5-0, on Tuesday to cap a perfect four-game homestand. Vladimir Tarasenko scored twice and assisted on Danila Yurov’s goal, while Yurov earned the primary assist on both of Tarasenko’s scores.
However, defenseman Daemon Hunt played less than four minutes before leaving with a lower-body injury that occurred when his left leg collided with Capitals forward Ethen Frank’s left leg. Minnesota already was playing without blueliners Jonas Brodin, Jake Middleton and Zach Bogosian. The club placed Brodin on injured reserve on Wednesday and promoted defenseman Carson Lambos from its AHL affiliate in Iowa.
After Tuesday’s win, coach John Hynes said the team’s perseverance through the injuries shows it is gaining confidence.
“We’ve had some guys out, but I think that we’re playing a strong collective team game and everyone that’s in the lineup’s contributing and playing hard, playing together,” Hynes said. “I think when you do that, you give yourself a good chance to win most nights.”
Minnesota already bolstered its defensive corps during the winning streak by getting two-time All-Star Quinn Hughes from the Vancouver Canucks. Hughes has played only two games for the Wild, but he has points in both. He netted an assist in Tuesday’s victory and scored a goal in the Wild’s 6-2 win over Boston on Sunday.
In 28 games between the Canucks and Wild, Hughes has 22 assists and 25 points.
As the battered Wild play with confidence, the Blue Jackets hope their 4-3 overtime win Tuesday against the Pacific Division-leading Anaheim Ducks serves as a launching point for the team that sits in last place in the Metropolitan Division.
The Blue Jackets saw their 3-1 lead disappear and nearly lost the game in regulation. However, they ended their five-game losing streak (0-4-1) on Adam Fantilli’s goal at 3:32 of the added session.
To Columbus coach Dean Evason, how Fantilli scored his 12th goal of the season was just as big as the victory itself. The third overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft took the puck in the Blue Jackets’ end and skated across the rink with it. Rather than waiting for linemates to join him in the attack zone, the 21-year-old went in 1-on-3 and used Anaheim defenseman Olen Zellweger as a screen to prevent Ducks goaltender Ville Husso from getting a clean look at his shot.
“I honestly wish we did that more,” Evason said. “We’ve been harping on our group to not see the whites of the goalie’s eyes before we end up shooting pucks.
“That’s just a tremendous shot. I mean, why not create a screen? … We don’t do it enough, and we’ve worked on it, we’ve talked about it. I’m glad that we can reinforce that one.”
Thursday’s contest, which ends a four-game homestand for Columbus, will feature a pair of candidates for the Norris Trophy that goes to the league’s top defenseman. Besides the Wild’s Hughes, who won the award in 2024, the Blue Jackets are led by Zach Werenski, who placed second in voting for the award last season. Werenski, who tops Columbus with 25 assists and 36 points, scored twice and assisted on Fantilli’s game-winner Tuesday. He has six points (two goals, four assists) in his last three games.
–Field Level Media
