It's not often a coach can take a potential Norris Trophy candidate, throw him at forward and not get trashed locally.

But Wild coach Jacques Lemaire is that respected, and Brent Burns is that special of a player.

During training camp, Columbus Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock called Burns "a hybrid."

"He's a very unique player in the game right now," said Hitchcock, who coached Burns with Team Canada when he was named the top defenseman during last spring's World Championships. "He's got this joy of competition, and, boy, when he gets moving up ice, he's as good as most forwards in the league."

Well, now Burns IS a forward. That's how desperate the Wild is to build three solid scoring lines, something that's been a struggle with Marian Gaborik out for 13 straight games with a "lower body" injury.

"He has a sense where the puck's going to go, where to go at the right time to get the puck," Lemaire said of Burns. "That's what I like about his offense. ... There's not a lot of guys who are scorers that do that."

It's hard to say how long this experiment will continue, but Burns doesn't seem worried if he loses a few Norris votes because of it. He'll definitely be up front Tuesday in Pittsburgh.

"Burns, he likes it. He's excited to play," Lemaire said.

WILD 3, BLUE JACKETS 2 (SO): Marek Zidlicky and Antti Miettinen scored goals and Niklas Backstrom stopped both Blue Jackets shooters in the shootout as the Northwest Division-leading Wild improved to 12-3-1 all-time vs. its expansion counterpart at home.

It wasn't pretty, but Backstrom improved to 11-0-3 in his last 14 home starts.

"We didn't make any plays. We weren't sharp. We were exactly like our pregame skate," coach Jacques Lemaire said. "The legs were there. No brain."

Defenseman Erik Reitz scored his first NHL goal and Benoit Pouliot scored a power-play goal for the Wild.

Reitz, who has been with the Wild since its 2000 inception, spent 363 games in Houston before becoming an NHL regular.

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