Niklas Backstrom

Jason Pominville scored a goal and had an assist for his first points for the Minnesota Wild and Niklas Backstrom made 24 saves in a 3-0 Wild victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday.

Justin Williams and Jeff Carter scored 98 seconds apart on the first two shots of the game, Williams added a goal on Los Angeles' first shot of the second period, and the Kings beat the Minnesota Wild 3-0 on Thursday night behind Jonathan Bernier's first shutout of the season.

Niklas Backstrom made 33 saves for his first shutout of the season and Ryan Suter had two more assists, leading Minnesota past the San Jose Sharks 2-0 on Saturday for the Wild’s season-high fifth straight victory.

Thanks to considerable help from Niklas Backstrom, the new-look Minnesota Wild continue to show that they're for real. Backstrom made 35 saves as Minnesota took sole possession of the Northwest Division lead by defeating the Vancouver Canucks 3-1 on Monday night.

The Minnesota Wild -- the team that arguably lost more momentum during the NHL lockout than any other -- is eager to get to work at recapturing it.