Wild topple Blue Jackets in season opener in Dean Evason's return to the X

Dean Evason was welcomed back to Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., Thursday night with a round of applause and a video tribute. The former Wild coach was making his debut as coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets for the two teams' season opener.

The Wild ultimately were able to spoil his homecoming with a 3-2 victory.

Matt Boldy got the Wild (1-0-0) on the scoreboard first, getting a wrister past Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins 17 minutes, 51 seconds into the first period.

The Blue Jackets (0-1-0) knotted the game when Kent Johnson's wrist shot got past Filip Gustavsson two minutes into the second period, but Joel Eriksson Ek put the Wild back on top with a goal 14 minutes, 35 seconds later.

Mats Zuccarello made it a two-goal advantage for the Wild 9 minutes, 58 seconds into the third period, and while Zach Werenski got the Blue Jackets back within one with just under three minutes remaining, they were unable to find an equalizer late.

Gustavsson put together a standout performance in net, stopping 31 of 33 shots. Merzlikins stopped 23 of 26 Wild shots for the Blue Jackets.

Boldy assisted on both Eriksson Ek and Zuccarello's goals for a three-point night. Marcus Johansson had a pair of assists.

In addition to the tribute to Evason, the Wild also had a moment of silence and video for Johnny Gaudreau, the former Blue Jackets player who tragically died in a car accident this summer along with his brother, Matt.

The Wild return to action on Saturday when they host the Seattle Kraken for a 7 p.m. puck drop.