Wild at Blue Jackets
THE STORY: The Minnesota Wild could be receiving a boost Tuesday. Captain Mikko Koivu joined his team by traveling to the Buckeye State, but no answers were forthcoming if he'd play in Tuesday's contest versus the NHL cellar-dwelling Columbus Blue Jackets. "I don't know," Koivu told the team's website. "I can't really answer that one. So, we'll see." First-year coach Mike Yeo echoed the response of Koivu, who has been sidelined since Jan. 14 with a shoulder injury. Koivu was able to practice at full tilt Monday. The Wild fell for the second time in three games when they dropped a 2-1 shootout loss to the Dallas Stars on Saturday. The road hasn't been kind to Minnesota, which is 2-5-3 in its last 10 away from home.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS North (Wild), FS Ohio (Blue Jackets)
ABOUT THE WILD (25-19-8): While the team is focused on qualifying for the postseason, it is also looking toward its future. The Wild signed rookie defenseman Nate Prosser to a two-year contract extension on Monday. The 25-year-old Prosser has collected six assists and averaged 20:17 of ice time in 21 games for Minnesota this season. Goaltender Niklas Backstrom, who stopped 25 of 26 shots in the shootout loss to Dallas, boasts an impressive 9-3-1 career mark with a 2.23 goals against average versus Columbus. He stopped 43 shots against the Blue Jackets on Nov. 15.
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (14-32-6): Columbus coach Todd Richards certainly knows Tuesday's opponent very well. Richards served as Minnesota's coach for two seasons before joining the Blue Jackets this past summer. "The first game of the year in their building (was emotional),” Richards said. “As I’ve told other people, the best way for me to explain it would be to go back to my high school years. When you have a girlfriend in high school and she breaks up with you, when you see her again the first time in the hallway, there’s some emotion. It was like that the first time, but every other time you see her in the hallway it becomes a little easier."
OVERTIME:
1. Minnesota center Erik Christensen made his debut with the Wild on Saturday after being acquired from the New York Rangers for Casey Wellman. He failed to convert in the first round of the shootout.
2. In a span of six days, Columbus will play three of its four games at Nationwide Arena. The lone exception will come Saturday when the Blue Jackets face the Wild in Minnesota.
3. Minnesota won both matches versus Columbus this season by identical 4-2 scores.