Game Preview #68 – Mr. Todd’s Wild Ride

Columbus Blue Jackets at Minnesota Wild

March 15, 2014 – 8:00pm EDT
Xcel Energy Center – St. Paul, Minnesota
Radio – WBNS 97.1 – TV – Fox Sports Ohio
Opponents Blog: Hockey Wilderness
SBN’s Wild vs. Blue Jackets coverage

So, as much as we were fans of the Wild the other night when they dispatched the Rangers, tonight we must turn the tables. New York won last night, and the Jackets need to win to keep pace and move back into that tie-breaker second place spot. It doesn’t matter how they get there; they just need the two points.

The good news is that, while still technically a “game-time decision” per coach Richards, it is looking an awful lot like Fedor Tyutin is going to play tonight. As of now, the pairings below are how they rolled in the morning skate, but TR changed the pairings up on Thursday night mid-stream, so nothing is written in stone.

The Wild have loaded up trying to generate more offense, adding Matt Moulson and moving Mikka Koivu to the second line with him in an attempt to balance out their offensive attack. The top line is still very good with Zach Parise and Jason Pominville, and yet the Wild just cannot consistently generate offense this season. Let’s hope that trend can continue tonight.

Artem Anisimov is back for Columbus tonight, and Matt Frattin is out of the lineup because of that. It looks like former Wild Nick Schultz is the odd defenseman out as well.

Projected Lineups

Columbus Blue Jackets
(34-26-6, 74 Points; 3rd division, 7th conference)

Minnesota Wild
(35-22-9, 79 Points; 4th Division, 7th Conference)

Season Series

12/06/13 – Minnesota 0 at Columbus 4
03/15/14 – Columbus at Minnesota

Head to Head Stats