Wild thump Jackets 2-1

Goals by Jordan Greenway and Zach Parise 89 seconds apart late in the first period were all the offense the Minnesota Wild needed for a 2-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets in St. Paul, Minn., on Saturday night. Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk made 19 saves for the much-needed victory, as Minnesota had just one win in four previous outings as it's in the thick of the wild card battle. Greenway, the Wild's second-round draft pick in 2015, opened the scoring at 16:07 of the first period.

Eric Staal won the battle behind the visiting net before slipping a pass to Greenway in the slot, and the rookie one-timed a glove-side, top-shelf offering for his ninth goal of the season. Seven of Greenway's goals have been the first goal of the game for the Wild. It's only the 18th time this season the Wild have opened the scoring in a game. Parise doubled the lead at the 17:36 mark with his 20th tally of the season. Parise was parked in the slot awaiting the pass, and upon receiving it, he quickly sent a shot that trickled into the net. Minnesota's two newest players, Pontus Aberg and Victor Rask, collected the assists.

Rask, acquired earlier this week from the Carolina Hurricanes, made his Wild debut. Artemi Panarin put the Blue Jackets on the board with a power-play goal 3:07 into the second period. Panarin set up in the left faceoff circle and wired a wrist shot under the crossbar for his 19th of the season, but the Blue Jackets couldn't find the equalizer. In fact, they managed only six shots on goal in each of the second and third periods, and 20 for the game. Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves in the loss, his team's second in as many nights. The Blue Jackets were first in the Metropolitan Division before Friday's action but now sit third. --Field Level Media

(With inputs from agencies.)