Columbus one goal shy of victory against Wild

Defensive lapses led to two of Minnesota’s goals.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Eric Belanger and Brent Burns scored in the third period to rally the Minnesota Wild to a 3-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night.

Brian Rolston had three assists and Pierre-Marc Bouchard also scored for Minnesota.

The Wild, whose 29 home wins were second only to Calgary’s 30 last season, improved to 2-0 at home.

Defensemen Ron Hainsey and Adam Foote had the Blue Jackets’ goals.

However, defensive lapses led to two of Minnesota’s goals, when Bouchard and Belanger got behind the defense for unobstructed trips to the Columbus net.

The Blue Jackets’ special teams, which accounted for three of the team’s four goals in their season-opening win, clicked again. Hainsey scored his second goal in two games with a shot from the left circle on the power play.

After Bouchard tied the game by tucking the puck past a sprawling Fredrik Norrena in the final minute of the first period, Foote scored short-handed in the second, blasting a puck off the goal post and past Minnesota goalie Niklas Backstrom.

Backstrom finished with 19 saves for Minnesota. Rolston, who led the Wild with 31 goals last season, tied a career high with three assists.

Norrena, making his first start of the season, had 28 saves for Columbus.

Notes

Wes Walz, who centered Marian Gaborik and Pavol Demitra in Minnesota’s season opener, missed Saturday’s game after injuring his right knee in practice. ... Columbus center Michael Peca, who signed a free agent contract with the team in late August, did not make the trip to Minnesota. He has missed the first two games with back spasms, but is expected to play Wednesday when the Blue Jackets host Phoenix. ... Bouchard’s goal was the 50th of his career, making him the seventh player in Wild history to score 50 goals with the team.