Blue Jackets at Wild
THE STORY: The Minnesota Wild will look to stay within striking distance of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference and win the season series with the Blue Jackets when they host Columbus on Saturday. The Wild have won two of the first three meetings by 4-2 scores, but lost the last meeting earlier this week - 3-1 in Columbus. Defenseman David Savard had a goal and an assist to lead the Blue Jackets.
TV: 8 p.m. ET. FS-Ohio (HD), FS-N (HD)
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (15-33-6): Columbus, which is 3-6-1 in its last 10 games, failed to earn its first three-game win streak of the season by falling 4-2 at home to the Dallas Stars on Thursday. Vinny Prospal and captain Rick Nash both scored power-play tallies to snap goalless streaks. Prospal went 12 games before scoring his 10th of the season, while Nash went five contests without a goal before scoring his 18th. Prospal now has points in four straight games. The Jackets have a 6-19-3 road record.
ABOUT THE WILD (25-21-8): Minnesota, which is 3-5-2 in its last 10 games, is coming off its third straight loss (0-2-1) on Thursday with a 5-2 setback at home to the Vancouver Canucks. Dany Heatley set a franchise record by scoring just 13 seconds into the game. Devin Setoguchi also scored, while Niklas Backstrom made 15 saves to fall to 14-14-5. The Wild are 4-9-2 in their last 15 games. “We flat out stink the last two months. We stink,” coach Mike Yeo said. Minnesota is 13-8-3 at home this season.
OVERTIME:
1. The Wild are 12-2-2 in their last 16 home games against Columbus.
2. The Jackets are 0 for 16 on the power play in their last seven visits to Minnesota.
3. Columbus C Antoine Vermette won eight of 10 faceoffs on Thursday. He has won 71 of his last 114 and is ranked in the top 10 in the NHL.