By Dane Mizutani

St. Paul Pioneer Press

Well, it wasn’t going to last forever.

As the Wild bid adieu to 2016 on New Year’s Eve at the Xcel Energy Center, they also waved aloha to their franchise-best 12-game winning streak with a 4-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Hype over the matchup was playoff-worthy, as it marked the first time in the history of the four major American professional sports that both teams entered on a winning streak of at least 12 games, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The Blue Jackets seized control in the second period and never looked back, stretching their winning streak to 15 games.

Though the finish was anticlimactic for the Wild, who lost in regulation for the first time since Dec. 2, the game itself was worth only two points, as the players had stressed before the game. The Wild will still wake up on New Year’s Day firmly in second place in the Central Division.