Russell, Nash score 27 seconds apart in third to give Blue Jackets 4-2 win over Wild

Nash scores twice in return as Jackets beat Wild

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Rick Nash scored two third-period goals in his return from an injury that sidelined him four games, and the Columbus Blue Jackets overcame a two-goal deficit Friday night to hand the Minnesota Wild a costly 4-2 loss.

The Wild came into the game in 11th place and six points behind eighth-place Detroit in the Western Conference playoff race. Instead of getting two points, they came away with none after blowing leads of 2-0 in the second period and 2-1 with less than 9 minutes left.

Nash’s shootout-like goal came just 27 seconds after Kris Russell tied it. Nash, who was sidelined with a lower-body injury, then added an empty-netter in the final minute. Kristian Huselius also scored for Columbus, which has won four of five.

Mikko Koivu and Chuck Kobasew had goals for the Wild, who have dropped two in a row after a three-game winning streak.

Until midway through the third period, Columbus was not mustering much offense despite ending up outshooting the Wild 32-20.

Then with 8:58 left, Huselius left a drop pass for Russell, who was trailing the play, and his hard slap shot slipped past R.J. Umberger, who was providing traffic in front of goalie Josh Harding.

Before that tying goal could be announced, Nash took a pass from Jake Voracek in the neutral zone — while defenseman Cam Barker was heading to the bench to get a replacement stick. With no one close, Nash skated in on Harding, faked and then scored on a soft shot that went between Harding’s leg pads.

The Wild pulled the goalie for an extra attacker in the final minute and Nash scored from the blue line for his 30th goal of the year.

Mathieu Garon had 18 saves for the Blue Jackets.

The Wild, who dropped to 22-7-2 when scoring first, opened the scoring midway through the first period. On a rush, Antti Miettinen’s blast from the high slot caught the post — but the puck rebounded to the left wing where Koivu slammed it home for his 20th of the year.

They made it 2-0 near the outset of the second period. Barker kept the puck alive by chipping it back into the offensive zone, where Columbus’ Chris Clark could not control it. Casey Wellman ended up with it, backhanding a pass for Kobasew’s jam shot.

The Blue Jackets countered later in the period when Huselius cleaned up a rebound off a shot during a scrum by R.J. Umberger. Huselius’ first attempt hit the corner of the crossbar, but the puck came right back to him and he made the second try count.

Umberger then made a huge play late in the period. Garon was down and out of position with Wellwood bearing down on him but Umberger was able to block the puck with his skates to Garon, who covered it.

It was just the third time the Blue Jackets have won (3-22-4) this season when trailing through two periods.

NOTES: The Blue Jackets wrapped up a four-game homestand. … Minnesota is 7-6-0 in the second half of back-to-back games. … Since both clubs joined the NHL in the 2000-2001 season, Columbus is 276-356-33-62 with one playoff appearance and Minnesota is 327-285-55-59 with three trips to the playoffs. … Wild D Justin Falk, making his NHL debut, suffered an undisclosed injury in the second period and didn’t return. … Columbus C Andrew Murray appeared to hurt a knee late in the game and went to the dressing room.