Blue Jackets beat Wild to extend win streak to 15 games
Make that 15 straight wins for the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Ohio hockey club defeated the Minnesota Wild on Saturday, coming away with a 4-2 victory, and extending their winning streak to 15 consecutive games.
The loss snaps a 12-game win streak for Minnesota and marks their first loss since Nov. 29, a 5-4 defeat to the Vancouver Canucks.
The Blue Jackets haven't dropped a game since a 2-1 shootout loss to the Florida Panthers on Nov. 26. The team's last regulation loss came on Nov. 23, falling 2-0 to the Calgary Flames.
In all, the Blue Jackets have just five regulation losses on the season, three of which came in the team's first six games.
The 15-game stretch has seen the Blue Jackets outpace their opponents by 61 to 26 goals.
With the victory, the Blue Jackets tied the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins for the second-longest win streaks in NHL history. The Penguins also hold the top seed, a record-long 17 games:
| Rank | Wins | Team | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 | Penguins | March - April 1993 |
| T2 | 15 | Blue Jackets | Nov - Dec 2016 |
| T2 | 15 | Islanders | Jan - Feb 1982 |
| T2 | 15 | Penguins | March 2013 |
| T3 | 14 | Bruins | Dec 1929 - Jan 1930 |
| T3 | 14 | Capitals | Jan - Feb 2010 |
Facing Minnesota, Columbus' offense got off to an early start, as forward Cam Atkinson opened the scoring 10:05 into the initial frame. Atkinson tallied again in the second period, marking his 17th goal of the season. Only five players league-wide have scored more goals than Atkinson.
Defensemen Jack Johnson and Seth Jones also tallied for the Blue Jackets, while forwards Mikael Granlund and Jason Zucker replied for the Wild.
With the loss, Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk allowed more than three goals for just the second time this season, after he also allowed four Thursday versus the Islanders.
The Blue Jackets will have a chance to push their win streak to 16 when they face the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday.