ST. PAUL – Minnesota Wild forward Dany Heatley was all alone behind Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Steve Mason. Matt Cullen fired the puck down to a waiting Heatley, who had a wide-open net and a chance to put Minnesota ahead, 2-1, in the second period.
Heatley's stick then broke and another Wild scoring chance was missed. Unfortunately it's been a familiar story for Minnesota, which has been searching for offense and had coach Mike Yeo pleading for his players to take generate more shots after Thursday's loss to Vancouver.
The Wild put shots on goal on Saturday. But like Heatley's golden opportunity, Minnesota couldn't find the back of the net enough to avoid its fourth straight loss.
"Stick breaks; it was that kind of night," Yeo said. "What can you say? Having said that, our guys played a strong game. We gave ourselves every opportunity to win that game. That's why it's a long season, because in one game you might not get what you deserve, but if you continue to do that, then over the long run you do."
Devin Setoguchi scored his 12th goal of the season in the first to give the Wild a 1-0 lead. It was Setoguchi's second goal in as many games since being reunited with Mikko Koivu and Dany Heatley. Koivu had an assist in his second game back from an injury and Marek Zidlicky added an assist, his first point since Jan. 12.
Two days after questioning his team following a 5-2 loss to Vancouver, Yeo was pleased with the effort on Saturday. Minnesota couldn't avoid a second loss in three games to Columbus and former Wild coach Todd Richards though.
"Sitting up here it's still hard to believe that we did not win the game, to be honest with you," Yeo said. "But at the same time, if we play like that every night, we'll take those odds."
Minnesota put more pressure on goal, outshooting the Blue Jackets 35-19. It was the most shots the Wild have had in a game since Dec. 13 and just the fourth time they've reached 35 shots in a game this season. Their season high is 45 against Vancouver on Nov. 3. Trailing 2-1 entering the third, Minnesota tried to rally and outshot Columbus 15-2 in the final period. One of the Blue Jackets two shots though was an empty-net goal to provide the final tally.
The Wild have scored six goals in their last five games.
"If I knew the answer to scoring goals, I'd have 50," Setoguchi said. "For us it's confidence. Guys just need to be confident. We're getting shots. But we're not getting the second and third opportunities where you score the goals, get the dirty goals. That's what we need. It's not going to be the nice goal all the time. You've got to get the net and bang a couple home."
Clutterbuck leaves early: Yeo said forward Cal Clutterbuck left Saturday's game with a lower body injury. Clutterbuck was hurt near the end of the second period and came out at the before the third to test the injury, but he missed the entire third period.
"I don't know the severity right now," Yeo said. "He had some discomfort there, so we couldn't get him back out."
Staubitz sent to Houston: The Wild assigned forward Brad Staubitz to the Houston Aeros on Saturday after he cleared waivers. Staubitz, 27, had a team-high 73 penalty minutes in 43 games with Minnesota this season and was held without a point.
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