In Columbus, the Minnesota Wild scored twice in the first period, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 30 saves to make those two goals stand up in a 2-0 shutout of the Blue Jackets on Thursday night.
“Great team effort,” Fleury said. “We had some guys out on the [defense], but we have some depth back there. The guys blocked a lot of shots and let me see the puck.”
Brandon Duhaime scored three minutes into the first period to give the Wild a 1-0 lead.
“That’s kind of what we stressed, a big start, and we went out and played like it in the first period,” Duhaime said.
Minnesota improved to 32-21-5.
“It’s night-and-day to get up, obviously,” Wild coach Dean Evason said. “If you get a lead, you can really solidify what you’re doing. We can really bear down and wait for our opportunities rather than push.”
It was Fleury’s second shutout of the season, and 73rd of his career.
“He’s a stud,” Duhaime said. “Everyone knew he would respond like that. It’s pretty standard for him.”
Minnesota is 5-1-1 in their last seven matches.
“We had our opportunities,” Blue Jackets defenseman Erik Gudbranson said. “They made it tough for us to score for sure. To get the first two that quick there were little mistakes that we wish didn’t happen.”
Kirill Kaprizov hit for the Wild’s second goal in the opening frame.
“He’s a living legend,” Korpisalo said of Fleury. “He’s still going strong. It’s really cool to see him playing the same level he has the last 20 years.”
Columbus dropped to 18-35-5.
“They don’t give up much. There are a big body team, they’re well coached, they’re big on the wings,” Columbus coach Brad Larsen said. “They’ve got solid [defensemen]. Their goaltender’s good. They defend. They are a hard man-on-man [team] too, so if you’re not getting inside and you’re not beating your guys, it’s going to be a long night.
“They’re one of the top teams in their goals against for a reason. It’s not by fluke; it’s by design.”
Joonas Korpisalo made 23 saves in the Blue Jackets loss.
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