The Minnesota Wild kick off the portion of their 25th Anniversary season with their fellow expansion team, the Columbus Blue Jackets, a team looking to emulate the Wild.
Game #2: Columbus Blue Jackets (0-1-0) at Minnesota Wild (1-0-0)
Location: Grand Casino Arena, St. Paul
TIme: 7:00 PM CST
TV/StreamFDSNNO, FDSNOH, FDSNWI, ESPN+
Opposing Point of View: Union and Blue
What to Watch For
Everything that could go right did for the Wild’s season opener as they dispatched the St. Louis Blues, 5-0, on Thursday. They’ll look to carry that play over as they christen the Grand Casino Arena, same building new, shiny name!
While the scoreboard was heavily in favor of Minnesota on Thursday, St. Louis pushed much of the play as the Wild were outchanced 24-13 at 5v5. Outside of the top line of Matt Boldy, Marco Rossi, and Kirill Kaprizov the other three lines were upside down in terms of generating offense. They have to improve that as the season continues.
The Opponent
Columbus used the off-season to strengthen their forward depth as they brought in Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood in a trade with Colorado, but for the most part were willing to role with their mix of veterans and young prospects like Adam Fantilli and Jake Sanderson.
Jet Greaves made the start in net in their 2-1 loss to Nashville, but they’ll be going with the 1a and 1b rotation as Elvis Merzlikins will likely get the start tonight. Goaltending is their biggest question mark for the season, and if they can get a decent showing from the tandem they could fight for a playoff spot in the Metro.
Players to Watch
Minnesota - Kirill Kaprizov. Sure it’s easy to pick the best player on the team, but the Minnesota offense revolves around their $17 million man. Coming off of a three-assist night, the pressure is going to be on him every night to keep the points rolling in. If that top line can continue to dominate, it’ll open up the ice for everyone else.
Columbus - Kirill Marchenko. It’s a rare Kirill vs. Kirill battle. Other prospects like Fantilli might get much of the hype, but the 25-year-old Marchenko has been one of the most consistent scorers for Columbus, posting 75 goals over the last three seasons for some very bad Blue Jackets’ teams.
Potential Wild Lines
Kaprizov - Rossi - Boldly
Foligno - Eriksson EK - Tarasenko
Trenin - Hartman - Johansson
Ohgren - Haight - Hinostroza
Middleton - Faber
Buium - Spurgeon
Bogosian - Jiricek
Gustavsson
Wallstedt