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Umberger paces Blue Jackets over Wild

Feb 12, 2012 - 5:23 AM St. Paul, MN (Sports Network) - R.J. Umberger scored a pair of goals, leading the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 3-1 win over the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center.

James Wisniewski -- playing in his first game after missing the previous 17 with a broken ankle -- added a goal and an assist. Rick Nash finished with two assists for the Blue Jackets, who have won three of their last four. Steve Mason was solid in net, stopping 34-of-35 shots.

"Mason was great," Blue Jackets interim head coach Todd Richards said. "It was good to see him get a win and it was a typical R.J. game, getting a goal on the power play when we needed it because we weren't playing very good hockey."

Devin Setoguchi scored for the Wild, who got 16 saves from Niklas Backstrom en route to their fourth straight loss.

Minnesota opened the scoring at 14:28 of the first frame when Mikko Koivu brought the puck into the offensive zone on the left wing, moved to the circle and found Setoguchi, who ripped it past Mason from the slot for the 1-0 lead.

Columbus answered to tie it with just 56 seconds left in the period when Derick Brassard sent a pass from the right wall to the slot for Umberger, who ripped it past Backstrom.

Umberger struck again with a power-play goal with 21 seconds to play in the second stanza, jamming home a rebound in front to give the Jackets the lead for good.

Wisniewski wrapped up the victory for Columbus with an empty-netter when he lifted a clearing attempt down the ice that took a strange hop and glanced off the left post before finding the net.

Mason stopped five shots in the second period and all 15 he faced in the third to keep the Wild from coming back.

"It sucks every time you lose," Backstrom said. "Wining is obviously more fun, but at least tonight we gave ourselves a chance to win."

Game Notes

The Wild fell to 15-5-2 at home against Columbus all time...Minnesota failed to score on its only power-play chance, while the Blue Jackets went 1-for-4 with the man advantage...It was Mason's first win since December 29...Minnesota fell to 5-15-5 in their last 25 games.