NHL: Minnesota 2, Columbus 1

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Brian Rolston scored a tie-breaking goal at 2:22 of the third period Saturday to help the Minnesota Wild beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1.

It was Rolston's ninth goal of the season.

The contest was deadlocked at 1-1 after Minnesota's Aaron Voros and Nikolai Zherdev of Columbus traded first and second period goals, with Zherdev's 11th goal this season creating the tie early in the second.

Goalie Niklas Backstrom stopped 31 of 32 shots for the Wild, who averted a third loss in a row.

His counterpart, Pascal Leclaire, made 24 saves on 26 shots for the Blue Jackets, who have two losses in their last three games.

On the power play, Minnesota went 0 for 4, while Columbus failed to score on its only chance.