Blue Jackets at Wild
The Minnesota Wild will have a depleted group of forwards when they welcome the Columbus Blue Jackets for their home opener on Saturday, just two days after picking up a gutsy victory. The Wild, who already were without Zach Parise and Mikael Granlund due to injuries, lost fellow forwards Nino Niederreiter, Marcus Foligno and Charlie Coyle during the 5-2 triumph at Chicago on Thursday.
“We don’t mention it, because somebody’s got to step up and do the job,” Minnesota coach Bruce Boudreau told reporters. “If you sit there and pull the ‘woe is me’ thing, then you’re always getting your built-in excuse for failure. We’re a group that doesn’t ever want to have that particular thought.” The Wild will try to patch together a lineup to take on the Blue Jackets, who topped the visiting New York Rangers 3-1 on Friday for their third win in four games to start the season. Sergei Bobrovsky has been brilliant in his first three contests, turning aside 103 of the 105 shots he has faced to win each of the starts. Artemi Panarin, who was acquired from Chicago in a blockbuster deal involving Brandon Saad over the summer, scored his first goal with the Blue Jackets in Friday’s victory after posting three assists in the first three contests.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN Ohio (Columbus), FSN North (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (3-1-0): Seth Jones and Zach Werenski, the team's top two defensemen, each recorded two points on Friday and may even take on more responsibility after blue-liner Gabriel Carlsson left the contest with an upper-body injury. Sonny Milano was kept off the scoresheet Friday but leads the team with four goals and is tied with Panarin for the top spot at four points. Brandon Dubinsky has yet to contribute a point in four games and Josh Anderson is scoreless in two contests since returning to the team after missing the preseason due to a contract holdout.
ABOUT THE WILD (1-1-1): It does not appear that Granlund (groin) and Parise (undisclosed) will be ready to play Saturday, Coyle is out 6-8 weeks with a fractured fibula, Niederreiter (high ankle sprain) could miss three weeks and Foligno (facial fracture) will be lost for at least seven days. Minnesota gained cap relief by placing Coyle on long-term injured reserve before recalling former No. 1 pick Luke Kunin to make his NHL debut on Saturday. Chris Stewart continued his strong start with two goals on Thursday to increase his team-leading totals to four tallies and five points, while Jason Zucker doubled is point total to four.
OVERTIME
1. The Blue Jackets won both meetings last season, allowing a total of two goals, and have triumphed in seven of the last nine in the all-time series.
2. Minnesota D Ryan Suter leads the team in average ice time (25 minutes, 18 seconds) and has registered 12 shots, tying him with C Eric Staal for the most on the team.
3. Columbus D David Savard has yet to record a point but leads the team with 13 shots.