Wild winning streak hits six with 5-2 victory at Blue Jackets

Sarah McLellan, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Dec 18, 2025

Published in Hockey

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The Wild keep righting their early-season wrongs.

After the Blue Jackets spoiled the Wild’s home opener, the Wild snagged the rematch, 5-2, Thursday night at Columbus’ Nationwide Arena for their sixth consecutive victory.

Joel Eriksson Ek broke a 2-2 tie with 8 minutes, 10 seconds to go on a goal-mouth scramble that could have been challenged by Columbus for goaltender interference but wasn’t.

Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy chipped in empty-net goals, while Ryan Hartman and Vladimir Tarasenko also capitalized. Yakov Trenin finished with two assists, and Jesper Wallstedt totaled 26 saves to help keep the Wild in third place in the NHL.

Zach Werenski scored both goals for the Blue Jackets, who ran away from the Wild for a 7-4 victory at Grand Casino Arena on Oct. 11, and Columbus goalie Jet Greaves made 23 stops.

During their winning streak, the Wild also rebounded against Washington and Dallas after losing to both in the first month of the season.

They relied on another patchwork lineup with seven players now hurt after defenseman Daemon Hunt went on injured reserve earlier in the day.

Carson Lambos subbed in on defense to make his NHL debut in front of family, an appearance years in the making since Lambos played the past two seasons in the minors after getting drafted in the first round (26th overall) in 2021.

The 22-year-old logged 10:16, with his first shift coming on the Wild penalty kill.

How it happened

Werenski blocked an Eriksson Ek shot with his right skate in the first minute but showed he was no worse for wear on the Blue Jackets’ first goal.

Columbus was caught in its own zone as the Wild poured on the pressure until Brock Faber lost the puck, and the Blue Jackets took off for an odd-man rush that Werenski buried as the trailer 15:20 into the first period.

That was the Wild’s biggest blemish in an otherwise solid start, but the Blue Jackets challenged them more in the second; they even came close to going up 2-0, but Cole Sillinger whiffed on sending a shot into an open net.

The miss was huge for the Wild, because they scored the equalizer only a few minutes later on their only power play when Kaprizov set up Hartman for a tap-in at 13:30; Columbus went 0 for 2.

Just 2:45 later, the Wild moved ahead 2-1 on another seeing-eye sequence from the new-look Russian second line: Danila Yurov dropped the puck to Trenin, who fed Tarasenko for a writer and Tarasenko’s third goal in his past two games.

But the momentum was short-lived.

With 2:21 to go in the second, Werenski picked the puck off Tyler Pitlick and threw a shot off the post and in for his 13th goal.

Turning point

In the third, Eriksson Ek scooped up a Trenin rebound and hauled it to the crease, whacking away at the puck until it rolled behind a sprawled Greaves.

The goal was Eriksson Ek’s fourth during a season-best six-game point streak, the center on a roll since his best game of the season Dec. 11 at Seattle and getting named the NHL’s Third Star of the Week for his role in the Wild going 4-0 last week.

Eriksson Ek also picked up an assist on Kaprizov’s empty-netter with 1:52 left, his team-leading 22nd goal; Boldy added another 38 seconds later to give him and Kaprizov three-point nights.

Key stat

Wallstedt set a franchise record for fewest games (13) to 10 wins in a season by a Wild rookie goaltender.

What it means

Columbus had been sputtering, with only one victory in its previous six games, and the NHL’s weaker teams have oddly given the Wild the most trouble since their post-October revival.

But considering the state of the Wild roster, this was another gutsy effort.

They are in a busy part of their schedule, with another weekend back-to-back on deck during a three-game homestand before the holiday break. Quinn Hughes is still settling in after last week’s blockbuster trade, and they are getting timely lifts — from the chemistry among Tarasenko, Yurov and Trenin and a dominating Eriksson Ek while the Wild have been without key players up front; he, Kaprizov and Boldy have reunited seamlessly.

The team’s competitiveness is steady, and that’s a good indicator of the Wild sticking to the style of game that gives them the best chance to succeed.

Up next

The Wild can make history when they host the Oilers on Saturday: They can break the franchise record for longest point streak at home if they stretch their run to 14 games. Since Nov. 1, the Wild are 11-0-2 in St. Paul.