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Blue Jackets shoot for consecutive wins vs. Wild

Nov 15, 2011 - 3:50 PM (Sports Network) - The lowly Columbus Blue Jackets will try to post consecutive wins for the first time this season when they host the Minnesota Wild for tonight's clash at Nationwide Arena.

The Blue Jackets are currently dead last in the NHL with seven points and a 3-12-1 record on the season, but Columbus was able to earn a rare victory Saturday against the visiting Winnipeg Jets. The 2-1 regulation win ended a three-game slide and was the third victory in the last eight games for Columbus, which last recorded wins in back-to-back games during a three-game winning streak from Feb. 18-25.

Steve Mason made 35 saves and rookie Ryan Johansen scored two goals to carry Columbus to the win over the Jets. Johansen, who was the fourth overall pick of the 2010 draft, now has five goals and two assists in the first 12 games of his NHL career.

Meanwhile, Mason, who is 3-11-1 on the year, turned aside 12 shots in the first, 10 in the second and 13 in the third to maintain the lead. The only goal for the Jets came on a short-handed tally from defenseman Mark Stuart with 3:45 remaining in regulation.

"We played a full 60 minutes of intense hockey," Johansen said. "We carried it throughout the game."

The game also marked the return of Jeff Carter to the ice after the forward had missed the previous 10 games with a fractured right foot. Carter, who came to Columbus in a blockbuster trade with Philadelphia over the summer, saw 21 minutes, 22 seconds of ice time on Saturday.

All three of the Blue Jackets' wins this year have come on home ice, where Columbus is 3-5-1 this season.

The Wild enter tonight with six wins in their last eight trips to the rink, but Minnesota had lost two in a row before beating the Ducks in Anaheim on Sunday. Minnesota had three first-period goals and got 32 saves from Niklas Backstrom to down the Ducks, 3-2, in the fourth stop on a five-game road trip that ends tonight.

Kyle Brodziak, Matt Cullen and Jared Spurgeon all scored for the Wild, who are 2-2-0 the current trip and 4-3-2 as the road club this season.

"It was a good game tonight but we can be better and we want to be better," said Backstrom.

Minnesota will play its next six games as the host, beginning with Thursday's meeting against Colorado.

The Wild and Blue Jackets have split the last eight meetings against each other, but Columbus has four wins over the previous six matchups. Minnesota has been handed losses in three of its last four trips to Ohio.