Please visit Hockey Wilderness for all of you Wild discussion.
St. Paul, MN (Sports Network) - R.J. Umberger tallied the game-winner while his club was shorthanded midway through the third period as Columbus clipped Minnesota, 3-2, at Xcel Energy Center.
Derek Dorsett and Derek MacKenzie also scored for the Blue Jackets, who have split four games this season and notched their first regulation win of the year.
Mathieu Garon was strong in net, making 21 stops.
"We gotta be a team that will see a lot of bumps in the road. We're young, sometimes unsure what we're doing. If we lose, we have to go out and respond the next night," said Umberger after Columbus dropped its home opener to Chicago on Friday. "That's what we did. We showed a lot of character in a gutsy road win."
Brent Burns and Cal Clutterbuck notched goals for the Wild, who have dropped three of four to start the campaign.
Niklas Backstrom allowed three goals on 25 shots in defeat.
Umberger's score did not come without controversy, as the five-year veteran managed to poke the puck past Backstrom at the side of the net though the Swedish netminder thought he held it long enough to warrant a stoppage.
A replay confirmed the goal was good, and Columbus led 3-2 with 9:02 to play despite being a man down.
"I don't think it was in. You know, the whole time I had it, I get up and it was under my pad," Backstrom said. "At that point, it doesn't count for them, but I don't know. They even had to see it behind the net and called it a goal so I don't know."
The Wild went with an extra skater for the final 1:22 of regulation but failed to net an equalizer.
Dorsett gave the Jackets a 1-0 lead with 6:46 to play in the first as he jammed in the rebound of a Kris Russell chance, but Burns stashed home a power-play score at 4:52 of the second to knot the game.
MacKenzie then potted his first goal of the season at the 9:33 mark after taking a lead pass from Derick Brassard and scoring on the forehand, but Clutterbuck evened the game at 16:43 when he slipped in the rebound of a Martin Havlat opportunity.
Game Notes
Columbus hadn't won at Minnesota since November 23, 2007, a span of four games...Umberger is tied with Kristian Huselius for the team lead in goals (three) and points (four) in four games...Matt Cullen picked up his third and fourth assists of the year for Minnesota...Havlat had two helpers for the Wild, and Chris Clark assisted on two Jackets tallies.