The Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild wrap up their season series tonight at Nationwide Arena and look to give the Wild their first regulation loss.
The CBJ are home against the Minnesota Wild tonight at Nationwide Arena. This will conclude the two-game season series, with the Wild winning the first one on October 10th in Minnesota.
There will be a few changes for this game tonight due to injury. David Jiříček will be making his season debut per HC Dean Evason. Yegor Chinakhov is expected to play tonight as well. He went for X-rays on Friday for precautionary reasons after blocking a shot against the Buffalo Sabres. A source tells THN Columbus that "Everything is good" with Chinakhov, but Evason will tell us later today if he'll play. If he doesn't play, the CBJ may have to play with 11 forwards and 7 defensemen.
Kent Johnson was injured on Thursday when he collided with a teammate and fell awkwardly. It's described as an upper-body injury, with Evason saying "It doesn't sound good." So far, the team hasn't said anything about Johnson.
With Johnson potentially going down, Kevin Labanc should slot back in on the wing. If Labanc were to play, that would leave no extras forward and one defensive scratch. The scratch on defense will be announced later this morning.
Series History vs. The Wild
- The Jackets are 19-10-1-2 at home against the Wild.
- Columbus is 2-2-3 in the 7 games against the Wild at home.
Who To Watch For The Wild
- Kirill Kaprizov has 6 points in 4 games this season.
- Matt Boldy has 5 points in 4 games.
- Filip Gustavsson is 2-0 with a .948 save %.
- Marc-Andre Fleury is 0-0 in 1 start and has a .882 save %.
CBJ Player Notes vs. The Wild
- Sean Monahan has 14 points in 30 career games vs. the Wild.
- Cole Sillinger has 5 points in 6 games.
- James van Riemsdyk has 11 points in 21 games against Minnesota.
Injuries
- Boone Jenner (upper body) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 7.
- Dmitri Voronkov (upper body) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 4.
- Gavin Brindley (broken finger) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 3.
- Erik Gudbranson (upper body) is on Injured Reserve on Oct. 16.
- Elvis Merzlikins (upper body)
- Kent Johnson (assumed upper body)
TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 17
How to Watch & Listen: Tonight's game will be on Bally Sports Ohio. Steve Mears will be on the play-by-play. The radio broadcast will be on 97.1 The Fan with Bob McElligott behind the mic doing the play-by-play.
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