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Burns guides Wild past Blue Jackets

Oct 7, 2007 - 4:39 AM By Brian Hall PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (Ticker) -- Defenseman Brent Burns scored the game's decisive goal after a beautiful feed from Pierre-Marc Bouchard to lift the Minnesota Wild to a 3-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.

With the game tied at 2-2, Burns came off the bench and into the offensive zone. Bouchard, who was behind the net with the puck, fed Burns at the top of the left faceoff circle for the game-winning goal with 13:25 remaining in the third period.

Burns knew as he jumped into the play that all he had to do was get in the right spot.

"With (Bouchard), you don't really need to call for the puck, he sees pretty much everything," Burns said. "I know when he gets it, he looks for that play, so I just jumped in and he made a great play."

Bouchard and Eric Belanger also scored, while Brian Rolston added three assists for Minnesota. Niklas Backstrom stopped 19 shots to preserve the victory.

Defensemen Ron Hainsey and Adam Foote tallied for Columbus.

Hainsey opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 16:49 of the first period. After receiving a pass by Nikolai Zherdev from behind the net, he slapped it over Backstrom's right shoulder for his second tally in as many games.

Bouchard responded with his second goal of the season, scoring with 50 seconds to go in the period. Signed as a free agent in the offseason, Belanger found Bouchard, who split two defenders and went to his backhand to beat netminder Fredrik Norrena.

"We played bad (in the) neutral zone tonight," Foote said. "They played a playoff-style pace, and they played hard in the neutral zone. We got caught standing. All three of their goals were created from the neutral zone."

It was the 50th goal of Bouchard's career, making him the seventh player in Wild history to reach that mark with the team.

Bouchard also scored Minnesota's lone tally in its season-opening 1-0 home victory over Chicago on Thursday.

The line of Rolston, Belanger and Bouchard has had a hand in each of the Wild's four goals this season.

"You just never know," Bouchard said of his new linemate Belanger. "You only have five or six games (together) in the preseason. The chemistry has come fast. We are just trying to make the easy play, and he supports what I do and he supports what (Rolston) does."

Columbus took a 2-1 lead while successfully killing a penalty, thanks to a solid individual effort by Foote. The defenseman took a loose puck from his own end, skated up ice and fired a shot from the left circle that beat Backstrom for a shorthanded tally.

Belanger tied the game at 2-2 just 1:44 into the third period.

"I loved the way we played," Minnesota coach Jacques Lemaire said. "It was more intense. We were better in the neutral zone. They have guys that are good with the puck. It was pretty good."

Norrena, who made 28 saves, got the start after Pascal Leclaire posted a shutout in Columbus' season-opening 4-0 victory over defending Stanley Cup champion Anaheim on Friday. The netminder went 2-0-0 with a 2.46 goals-against average against Minnesota last season.

"It's especially hard when you quit playing when they are two (goals) up," Norrena said. "Then it's especially hard."