Saturday, January 6, 2024 at 7:00 PM EST
Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH
TV: Bally Sports Ohio; Radio: 97.1 FM
Minnesota Wild (16-17-4, 36 points, 7th Central, 13th West)
at
Columbus Blue Jackets (13-19-8, 34 points, 8th Metro, 15th East)
It’s Throwback Night at Nationwide, so what better opponent than the 2000 expansion partners?
Player to Watch
Adam Boqvist
The oft-injured Swedish defenseman has missed 13 games since straining his shoulder on December 5. The blue line as a whole has been struggling to move the puck, which is an area where he can help. I also hope to see him get some power play chances.
Jackets Notes
Congrats to CBJ prospect Gavin Brindley for winning a gold medal with Team USA at the World Junior Championships! He finished with a line of 6/4/10 during a 7-0 American run through the tournament … Captain Boone Jenner – an All Star selection – returned to ice this morning. That’s a good sign for his recovery from a broken jaw … Alas, the Troika is no more (at least for now). Cole Sillinger moves up between Yegor Chinakhov and Kirill Marchenko, while Dmitri Voronkov moves down to the fourth line.
The Other Bench
After firing head coach Dean Evason, the Wild are 11-7-0 under new coach John Hynes. They’re still buried in the standings, 5 points out of the last playoff spot … If you thought our injury situation was bad, check out the IR list for the Wild, led by star winger Kirill Kaprizov. Also included: Jonas Brodin, Marcus Foligno, Jared Spurgeon and Filip Gustavsson … Marc-Andre Fleury was coached by Pascal Vincent in juniors.
Season Series
10/21/2023 CBJ 5 @ MIN 4 (OT)
01/06/2024 MIN @ CBJ
Stats
| Minnesota | Columbus | |
| 2.95 (24) | GPG | 3.05 (19) |
| 3.19 (19) | GAPG | 3.63 (30) |
| 18.0 (23) | PP% | 14.6 (25) |
| 72.7 (29) | PK% | 81.3 (11) |
| 50.2 (14) | 5v5 Shot Attempt % | 46.8 (27) |
| 50.0 (17) | 5v5 Unblocked Shot Attempt % | 46.9 (25) |
| 10.0 (4) | 5v5 Shooting % | 10.1 (3) |
| 91.7 (12) | 5v5 Save % | 90.8 (20) |
| Joel Eriksson Ek, 15 | G Leader | K. Marchenko, B. Jenner, 13 |
| Mats Zuccarello, 22 | A Leader | Zach Werenski, 24 |
| Kirill Kaprizov, 34 | P Leader | Z. Werenski, J. Gaudreau, 25 |
| Pat Maroon, 55 | PIM Leader | Erik Gudbranson, 49 |
| 6-10-2 | Home/Road | 8-11-3 |
| 5-5-0 | Last 10 | 4-3-3 |
Projected Lines
Columbus Blue Jackets
| Johnny Gaudreau | Adam Fantilli | Justin Danforth |
| Yegor Chinakhov | Jack Roslovic | Kirill Marchenko |
| Emil Bemstrom | Cole Sillinger | Kent Johnson |
| Alexandre Texier | Dmitri Voronkov | Mathieu Olivier |
| Damon Severson | Adam Boqvist |
| Ivan Provorov | David Jiricek |
| Jake Bean | Erik Gudbranson |
| Daniil Tarasov |
| Spencer Martin |
Minnesota Wild
| Matt Boldy | Marco Rossi | Mats Zuccarello |
| Marcus Johansson | Joel Eriksson Ek | Ryan Hartman |
| Nic Petan | Frederick Gaudreau | Pat Maroon |
| Brandon Duhaime | Connor Dewar | Adam Raska |
| Jacob Middleton | Brock Faber |
| Alex Goligoski | Zach Bogosian |
| Jon Merill | Dakota Mermis |
| Marc-Andre Fleury |
| Zane McIntyre |