Wild at Blue Jackets
The Columbus Blue Jackets attempt to match the franchise record for wins in a month when they face off against the Minnesota Wild in the finale of their five-game homestand Wednesday. Columbus posted a 6-2 triumph over Boston on Saturday to improve to 9-1-1 in December, putting it one victory away from tying the club mark achieved twice - most recently in January (10-4-0). Scott Hartnell scored twice and defenseman Kevin Connauton added a goal and two assists as the Blue Jackets moved to 2-1-1 on their homestand.
Minnesota halted a five-game slide (0-2-3) and earned a split of the home-and-home series by recording a 3-2 triumph at Winnipeg on Monday. Ryan Carter scored early in the second period before Justin Fontaine and defenseman Marco Scandella tallied 3:17 apart later in the session as the Wild overcame a 2-0 deficit to register their first regulation road win since Nov. 24 at Florida. Darcy Kuemper returned from a bout of food poisoning to post his first victory since Dec. 3.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN North (Minnesota), FSN Ohio (Columbus)
ABOUT THE WILD (17-13-4): Minnesota's fourth line played a major role in Monday's victory as Carter scored his third goal of the season while Kyle Brodziak and Brett Sutter each notched a pair of assists. "When they're scoring goals ... usually they're in the game and doing things the right way and they get rewarded," coach Mike Yeo told the team's website. "At every point in the game that could have been deemed a break point, they went out and did the right thing for us." Scandella's goal against Winnipeg was his fourth game-winner of the season, putting him one off the league lead.
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (15-16-3): Cam Atkinson is expected to miss up to two weeks after being placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury on Tuesday. The 25-year-old right wing, who has recorded eight goals and six assists in 33 games, was injured in Saturday's win over Boston. Columbus filled the roster spot by recalling center Sean Collins from Springfield of the American Hockey League.
OVERTIME
1. Minnesota RW Jason Pominville has collected two goals and five assists during his five-game point streak.
2. Connauton has registered four goals and three assists over his last eight contests.
3. Saturday's victory was Todd Richards' 100th as coach of the Blue Jackets.