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Filatov, Mason shine again as Blue Jackets trounce Wild

Jan 11, 2009 - 4:23 AM By Dave Holstein PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Ticker) -- Nikita Filatov is a star on the rise. He displayed a glimpse of his talent against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.

Filatov recorded his first career hat trick and fellow rookie Steve Mason made 21 saves as the Columbus Blue Jackets received more sparkling efforts from their budding stars en route to a 4-2 victory over the Wild.

Selected sixth overall in last June's draft, the 18-year-old Filatov skated in his second game since returning to the Blue Jackets after helping Russia capture the bronze medal at the World Junior Championship.

"It's unbelievable," Filatov said. "I really don't have anything else to say. I have so many emotions, so many feelings. Unbelievable moment."

Filatov scored his second career goal in the first period and added two more in the third in support of Mason, who was fresh off notching his league-leading sixth shutout of the season on Friday against the Washington Capitals.

"It was a big win for us," Mason said. "We are playing really well right now. We have a nice streak going at home, and hopefully we can continue that on Tuesday against Colorado."

Derek Dorsett also scored and rookie Jakub Voracek collected three assists for the Blue Jackets, who have won back-to-back games without injured captain Rick Nash. The All-Star currently is sidelined with a sprained right knee.

Antti Miettinen and defenseman Marek Zidlicky each recorded a goal and an assist for Minnesota, which wasted a solid 28-save performance from backup netminder Josh Harding in dropping its second straight contest.

"This cannot happen," Wild coach Jacques Lemaire said. "To show up like this, it can't happen. I thought the first period was fine. Second period, I thought we would be better, and we were not. Well, in the third period... it was even worse. We had no legs at all in the third. So what can you do?"

Filatov scored his first goal 3:21 into the game, when he gained possession at the blue line and split two defenders before poking the puck past Harding while falling to ice. The puck crossed the goal line just before Filatov crashed into the net, handing Columbus a 1-0 lead.

"(Filatov) is a scorer, and he looks like a scorer on the ice," Columbus coach Ken Hitchcock said. "He's a smart, smart offensive player. He positions himself, offensively, really well. He finds holes other people don't look for on the ice."

Hitchcock continued to hand out compliments to his young players.

"He's solid every night," Hitchcock said of Mason. "We feel like we can win games if we are leading with 10 minutes left to play because if he can see it, he's going to stop it. That's the feeling we have with him."

Miettinen forged a tie with his 10th goal of the season midway through the session. Wild captain Mikko Koivu carried the puck into the zone and sent a drop pass to Miettinen, who beat Mason with a shot from the right point.

"Just a nice pass from Mikko," Miettinen said. "I just put it on net, and there was some traffic and it went in."

After a scoreless second period, Dorsett snapped the tie at 2:22 of the third by redirecting a pass from Alexandre Picard past Harding for his second tally of the campaign.

Filatov then took over, scoring twice in a 95-second span to complete the hat trick and seal the victory.

Zidlicky cut the deficit to 4-2 with 48 seconds remaining with a power-play goal.

"They got some quick goals and got some momentum," Minnesota center Pierre-Marc Bouchard said. "And we were unable to hold them back."