Minnesota Wild @ Columbus Blue Jackets: Season 25 12/18/25

The Columbus Blue Jackets would look to ride the high of their overtime win over the Anaheim Ducks, 4-3, on Tuesday, as the Minnesota Wild came to town tonight. The two teams meet only twice this year, and the first time, in Minnesota, the Blue Jackets rocked the ice, winning 7-4. That said, tonight's Wild team wasn't the team they faced in October for one superstar reason: Quinn Hughes. The once Vancouver Canuck was dealt last week and has had a warm welcome, clicking with his new team early on. Tonight's challenge for the Blue Jackets wasn't just to win and get two points, but to contain an energized Hughes as well. They did a pretty good job of it, too. Let's recap some hockey, 5th Line!

Period 1 would hold just one goal, and it would belong to a Blue Jackets' Defenseman who's been straight fire here for several seasons: Zach Werenski. His twelfth goal this season, at 15:20, would give the home team a 1-0 advantage. Charlie Coyle gets assist number sixteen with the primary, while Cole Sillinger gets his twelfth with the secondary. The Wild would win the shots on goal battle, 9-5, but don't let the low numbers fool you; all the shots in this period were quality. Thankfully, only one found the back of the net, and it was one of ours. 

All of that said, obviously, the Wild aren't going to give up when only down by a goal with two periods to play! While the Wild were on the power play, with Zach Aston-Reese in the penalty box for slashing, Ryan Hartman would add his seventeenth goal to his season. The man of the season, so far, Kirill Kaprizov gets to add assist number eighteen to his season with the primary assist on this tying Wild goal, while the secondary assist becomes Brock Faber's thirteenth this season. This goal would come at 13:30, and the Wild would obtain their first lead of the night at 16:15 after Vladimir Tarasenko nets his sixth goal this season. Yakov Trenin gets his seventh assist this season with the primary, while Danila Yurov adds his eighth assist with the secondary. But, the goal scoring wouldn't end there, and with a goal of his own at 17:38, Zach Werenski would add his second tonight and lucky number thirteen to his season! So, with a 2-2 tie, the stakes would be even higher as we'd start a brand new game in the final period of regulation. The Blue Jackets would also win the shots on goal battle in the middle period, 14-8. 

At 11:50, the Wild would get the upper hand with their third goal of the game, taking a 3-2 lead, after the eighth goal this season from Joel Eriksson Ek. Yakov Trenin adds a second assist to his night, his eighth this season, on the primary, while Matt Boldy adds his twentieth on the secondary. Kirill Kaprizov adds a goal to his assist at 18:06 after the Blue Jackets elected for a bonus player in place of Jet Greaves in the home net. This would become goal number twenty-two of his season. Matt Boldy gets a second assist tonight, his twenty-first overall, with the primary, while Joel Eriksson Ek adds an assist to his earlier goal, giving him eighteen this season after picking up the secondary. Seconds later, at 18:46, Matt Boldy wraps his night with his twentieth goal this season, a second empty net goal for the Wild, bringing us to a 5-3 final score. Kirill Kaprizov also adds a second assist to his evening with the only assist on this last goal of the game, bringing him to a 1-2-3 night, too. 

Overall, although the score doesn't reflect it, this wasn't a bad game. The Blue Jackets just didn't seem to have the spark they had in Periods 1 and 2 in Period 3. Also, the main men we look to score on the offense just couldn't tonight, and it's becoming a concerning trend. It's great to see Zach Werenski score, always, but this team needs to find a way around the wall they've hit early in this season so they can have their best hockey ahead of them. 

Third Star of the Game goes to Joel Eriksson Ek with his two-point night, 1-1-2.

The opposing goalie, Jesper Wallstedt, gets the Second Star of the Game. He ended with a .929 save percentage after stopping 24/26 Blue Jackets shots on his visitors' net. 

The Blue Jackets' only goal scorer, Zach Werenski, adds the First Star of the Game to his two-goal night. 

The Blue Jackets hit the road to face the Ducks on Saturday in Anaheim. Keep in mind, this will be a late game with puck drop at 10:00 p.m. Hopefully, the Blue Jackets can find their winning ways in California then. 

Go CBJ!        

      

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