Kirill Marchenko had his fourth career hat trick and Elvis Merzlikins made 48 saves in his season debut, carrying the Columbus Blue Jackets past Minnesota 7-4 to spoil the Wild's home opener on Saturday night.

Zach Werenski and Boone Jenner each had a goal and two assists and Adam Fantilli scored for the Blue Jackets, who took the lead on Miles Wood's wrist shot just 2:29 into the game and never trailed.

Kirill Kaprizov had his first two goals of the season and an assist for the Wild, just 11 days after signing the richest contract in NHL history with his eight-year, $136 million extension.

Matt Boldy had a goal and an assist and Zeev Buium got his first career goal for the Wild, who had a whopping 52-32 shots advantage but lost 62% of the faceoffs and blew several prime scoring chances

See Full Page