Match-up - Columbus Blue Jackets (19-21-3) @ Minnesota Wild (20-19-5) Road/Home records - 10-9-1 -------------- 11-6-5 TV - FS-N, FS-O Puck drop - 8:00 p.m. ET Season series - 1-0 Blue Jackets Last 10 - Blue Jackets: 5-5-0 ------------ Wild: 3-6-1 Projected starting goalies - Sergei Bobrovsky vs Devan Dubnyk
Projected lines for the Wild via DailyFaceoff.com:
Zach Parise - Mikko Koivu - Jason Zucker Thomas Vanek - Erik Haula - Jason Pominville Ryan Carter - Charlie Coyle - Nino Niederreiter Matt Cooke - Kyle Brodziak - Justin Fontaine
Jonas Brodin - Christian Folin Marco Scandella - Jared Spurgeon Nate Prosser - Mathew Dumba
Projected lines for the Blue Jackets:
Scott Hartnell - Ryan Johansen - Nick Foligno Matt Calvert - Brandon Dubinsky - Cam Atkinson Josh Anderson - Alex Wennberg - Jeremy Morin Corey Tropp - Mark Letestu - Jared Boll
Jack Johnson - David Savard Kevin Connauton - James Wisniewski Fedor Tyutin - Dalton Prout
Injured: Artem Anisimov, Boone Jenner, Brian Gibbons, Nathan Horton, Jack Skille, Ryan Murray.
What to watch:
1) Ryan Johansen enters tonight's game on a season-high 13-game point streak, and is now up to 43 points in 43 games on the year. If he can keep that streak going tonight the Jackets will have a good chance to win.
2) Minnesota sits outside of the playoffs in large part due to a sub par goaltending on the year, but Dubnyk looks to have solidified that since coming over. He's only made two starts, but has allowed just one goal in those two games. The Blue Jackets will need to get pucks and bodies to the net with regularity because - with the way Dubnyk is playing - he'll probably stop the shots he sees.
3) The Blue Jackets will need their top-6 to be very good tonight, because their bottom-6 has been a tire-fire for much of the season, and the Wild have depth up front (and last change) to help take advantage of that. Jared Boll, Corey Tropp and co. haven't brought anything to the team this year, and that's one of the seasons Columbus is not in a playoff spot; or at least closer to one.
4) Will Jeremy Morin see more ice today? He really should, but for whatever reason Todd Richards and his coaching staff seem hesitant to take the leash off the guy.
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