Columbus snaps Minnesota’s 12-game streak

st. paul, minn.» Cam Atkinson scored twice and the Columbus Blue Jackets stretched their winning streak to 15 games by stopping Minnesota’s 12-game run with a 4-2 victory over the Wild on Saturday night.

Never in NHL history had two teams taken winning streaks that long into a game, and Sergei Bobrovsky and the Blue Jackets made sure their party would stretch into the new year. Bobrovsky made 29 saves, yielding two or fewer goals for the 10th time during the run, and defensemen Jack Johnson and Seth Jones each had goals assisted by Brandon Saad in a frenetic second period sparked by consecutive fights.

Jason Zucker reignited the arena with his breakaway flip past Bobrovsky just 24 seconds into the third period for the Wild after he raced past Jones, but that was as close as they came. Devan Dubnyk stopped 21 shots, surrendering four goals for the second straight game after allowing three or fewer in his first 27 turns.

Mikael Granlund had the first goal for the Wild, who also had a franchise record-tying eight-game home winning streak end. This was their first loss since Dec. 2 in overtime at Calgary and their first defeat in regulation since Nov. 29 at Vancouver.

The Blue Jackets matched the second-longest winning streak in league history, trailing Pittsburgh’s 17-game run in 1993. Their last loss was in overtime at Florida on Nov. 26, and their last defeat in regulation was Nov. 23 against Calgary. Twelve of the 15 wins have come in regulation.

This was the first time not only in the NHL but in any of the major North American sports leagues — including the NFL, MLB, NBA, MLS and WNBA — that two teams played with winning streaks of 12 games or longer.