Minnesota Wild (16-17-4, seventh in the Central Division) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (13-19-8, eighth in the Metropolitan Division)
Columbus, Ohio; Saturday, 7 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: The Columbus Blue Jackets host the Minnesota Wild after the Blue Jackets defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 in a shootout.
Columbus is 13-19-8 overall and 8-11-3 at home. The Blue Jackets have a 6-7-4 record in games they serve more penalty minutes than their opponents.
Minnesota is 16-17-4 overall and 6-10-2 in road games. The Wild have given up 118 goals while scoring 109 for a -9 scoring differential.
Saturday's game is the second meeting between these teams this season. The Blue Jackets won 5-4 in overtime in the last meeting.
TOP PERFORMERS: Johnny Gaudreau has seven goals and 18 assists for the Blue Jackets. Kent Johnson has five goals and two assists over the past 10 games.
Marcus Johansson has four goals and 16 assists for the Wild. Ryan Hartman has scored four goals with one assist over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Blue Jackets: 4-3-3, averaging 3.5 goals, 6.1 assists, 3.4 penalties and 7.1 penalty minutes while giving up 3.9 goals per game.
Wild: 5-5-0, averaging 2.7 goals, 4.4 assists, 4.7 penalties and 13.1 penalty minutes while giving up 2.8 goals per game.
INJURIES: Blue Jackets: Nick Blankenburg: out (upper-body), Zach Werenski: out (lower body), Patrik Laine: out (clavicle fracture), Boone Jenner: out (jaw), Sean Kuraly: out (abdominal), Adam Boqvist: out (shoulder).
Wild: Jared Spurgeon: out (undisclosed), Sam Hentges: out (undisclosed), Jonas Brodin: out (upper-body), Filip Gustavsson: out (lower-body), Kirill Kaprizov: out (upper body), Mats Zuccarello: out (upper body), Vinni Lettieri: out (lower body), Marcus Foligno: day to day (lower-body), Caedan Bankier: out (undisclosed), Michael Milne: out (undisclosed).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Associated Press
