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Blue Jackets-Wild Preview

Oct 16, 2010 - 6:17 PM By MATT BEARDMORE STATS Writer

Columbus (1-2-0) at Minnesota (1-1-1), 8:00 p.m. EDT

The Minnesota Wild delivered a solid performance at home after coming back from a season-opening series in Europe.

The Columbus Blue Jackets' return from overseas didn't go as well.

Minnesota tries to post its fifth straight victory at the Xcel Energy Center in this matchup Saturday night while the Blue Jackets try to bounce back from a lackluster effort in their home opener.

After going 0-1-1 versus Carolina in Helsinki, Finland, to open the regular season, the Wild (1-1-1) avoided their third straight loss Thursday, defeating visiting and previously unbeaten Edmonton 4-2.

Mikko Koivu tallied two power-play goals and Antti Miettinen and Matt Cullen also scored with the man advantage as Minnesota posted its ninth straight home-opening victory.

"You always have to be desperate to get wins," said Koivu, who leads the team with five points and has four goals and five assists during a six-game point streak versus Columbus. "I think we were tonight and it worked for us."

It didn't for Columbus (1-2-0) in Friday's 5-2 loss to Chicago. Playing for the first time since a 3-2 overtime win last Saturday capped off a two-game set with San Jose in Stockholm, Sweden, the Blue Jackets looked sluggish in their first game at Nationwide Arena.

"That was a big, fat egg we laid," first-year coach Scott Arniel said after his club was booed in his home debut. "Systemwise, we were loose. All the games we've played, exhibitions with all the kids we've had in there, that's the loosest we've been since we've been trying to get things going here.

"Everything we tried to do backfired on us. All 20 players had a tough night."

Lately, the Blue Jackets haven't had many good nights in St. Paul, losing four straight - including two last season - since a 4-0 victory Nov. 23, 2007.

Playing its first road game in the United States this season, Columbus will likely face Niklas Backstrom, who is 7-2-0 with a 1.92 GAA in 10 career starts in this matchup.

Blue Jackets goaltender Steve Mason, 0-2-1 with a 2.60 GAA in three career starts at Minnesota, could get the night off after yielding a season-worst five goals against the defending Stanley Cup champs. If Mason sits, Mathieu Garon would make his first appearance this season.

Garon is 6-3-1 with a 2.64 GAA in 10 career starts versus the Wild, who have scored seven of their eight goals this season with the man advantage.

Blue Jackets forward Kristian Huselius, who was scoreless and a minus-2 in two games in Minnesota in 2009-10, will try to extend his goal-scoring streak to four. The last time he scored in four straight was Nov. 11-21, 2006, while with Calgary.

Huselius found the back of the net and recorded an assist in the last meeting between Minnesota and Columbus - a Blue Jackets 4-2 home win on March 19.

Minnesota is 11-1-1 in its last 13 at home against Columbus.