Wild at Blue Jackets
The Columbus Blue Jackets haven't had much reason to smile this season, but knocking down a few NHL heavyweights to complete a perfect three-game homestand very well could do the trick. The Metropolitan Division cellar-dwelling Blue Jackets will look to do precisely that when they host the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday.
"We've won two in a row here against the best teams in the league," Columbus coach John Tortorella told reporters after his team followed up a 6-3 victory over West-best Dallas on Tuesday with a 5-4 shootout triumph over East-beast Washington four nights later. "Ugly as (heck) at times but you still find a way to win them." While the Blue Jackets have won two straight, the Wild dropped two in a row in the Sunshine State heading into the finale of their four-game road trip. Jason Zucker scored his team's lone goal in a 2-1 setback to white-hot Florida on Sunday and had an assist in a 3-2 victory over Columbus on Oct. 22.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN North (Minnesota), FSN Ohio (Columbus)
ABOUT THE WILD (20-11-7): Captain Mikko Koivu notched an assist on Zucker's goal for his 12th point (six goals, six assists) in the last 11 contests. Forward Charlie Coyle has also enjoyed a torrid stretch, collecting four goals and three assists in his last seven games. Coyle's 10 tallies are just one shy of last season's total and two short of the career high set during the 2013-14 campaign.
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (15-22-3): Defenseman Cody Goloubef is in line to return to the lineup on Monday after being sidelined since Nov. 20 with a broken jaw. Goloubef's expected return adds another body to a crowded blue line for Tortorella. "There's a couple of spots (on defense) that are really up for grabs," Tortorella told the team's website. "I don't think anyone's really gone and grabbed it. They're not stupid, they see what’s going on. Guys are sitting out here and there, and sometimes not through bad play, but no one's really grabbed a couple of spots."
OVERTIME
1. Columbus C Brandon Dubinsky, who scored in initial meeting with Minnesota this season, has notched four assists in the last two games.
2. The Wild have failed on all nine power-play opportunities in the last three games and are 1-for-17 in the last eight.
3. Columbus' Jared Boll is expected to take the place of fellow RW David Clarkson (upper body) in the lineup, Tortorella told the team website.