ST. PAUL, Minn. _ Thirteen's an unlucky number anyway.
In the hyped battle of streaking 2000 expansion teams, the Wild discovered in a painful, humbling way what all the fuss has been about regarding the Columbus Blue Jackets out East.
Like no other opponent this season, the Blue Jackets made the Wild look ordinary in the first half of the game and impressively ruined the Wild's franchise-record 12-game winning streak during a 4-2 victory Saturday in front of 19,307 fans at Xcel Energy Center.
The Blue Jackets, who have points in 17 in a row since Nov. 23 and have lost three games in regulation since Oct. 15, won their 15th in a row _ two wins from tying the Pittsburgh Penguins' pre-shootout, pre-3-on-3-overtime 1993 record of 17 wins in a row.
The Wild, who have allowed four goals in three of the past four games, suffered its first loss since Dec. 2 (was 12-0-1) and first regulation loss since Nov. 29. They next play Thursday in San Jose, where they begin a three-game road trip.
Devan Dubnyk saw his franchise-record 10-game winning streak and personal-best 14-game point streak end with his first regulation loss since Nov. 19. The Wild's eight-game home winning streak is history, as is their eight-game winning streak against the Eastern Conference. The Blue Jackets, 12-2-3 on the road, were only the fourth team to win in Minnesota in 17 games.
The Wild could have taken the top spot in the Central Division with at least a point.
According to the Wild, there wasn't a single ticket left in the arena and virtually nothing available on the secondary market either. Tickets were being resold on Ticketmaster for as much as $600.
But in the hyped matchup of teams with at least 12-game winning streaks for the first time in North American pro sports history, the Wild looked jittery in the first period, especially in the offensive zone.
Jason Pominville, without a goal in 14 games and eventually demoted to the fourth line for the third game in a row, couldn't get a stick on a loose puck a few feet from a gaping net. Zach Parise half-fanned on a shot with an entire net open from a few feet away and hit the post.
Those have a way of coming back to haunt you when you're playing Columbus, the highest-scoring team in the NHL and second-best defensive team only behind Minnesota.
Blue Jackets leading scorer Cam Atkinson, who recently had a nine-game point streak end, supplied Columbus with the early lead on a breakaway shot through an oversized five-hole left by Dubnyk. The break came when Christian Folin's pass to center ice hit Pominville's skates, then Erik Haula overskated the puck and turned it over to Brandon Dubinsky.
It would be the first of three goals defenseman Marco Scandella would be on the ice for.
The Wild is the best second-period team in the NHL, but the game fell apart this time in the second.
After the Wild couldn't tie the score on a power play, Chris Stewart fought Josh Anderson 2:28 into the second. The crowd was awoken in a loud way, but as Stewart and Anderson were being escorted to their respective penalty boxes, Wild defenseman Matt Dumba and Blue Jackets forward Matt Calvert dropped the gloves.
By rule, because it was a secondary altercation after the original one, not only were they assessed five-minute majors, they also received game misconducts. That meant the Wild would have to play with five defensemen the final 37 minutes, 32 seconds.
Less than 90 seconds later, it was 3-0 Columbus after Jack Johnson and Atkinson stunned the Wild and their fans with goals 15 seconds apart.
Mikael Granlund drew the Wild within two with a power-play slam dunk of Jared Spurgeon's pass, but Sergei Bobrovsky, who extended his winning streak to 13 games, held the fort from there and finished with 28 saves.
The Wild couldn't convert on some glorious chances, and finally Seth Jones gave Columbus its three-goal lead again.
Jason Zucker scored a breakaway goal 24 seconds into the third period, but the Wild would lose by more than a goal for the second time this season.
