Tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET, the Minnesota Wild (17-8-5, 39 points) and Columbus Blue Jackets (11-14-3, 25 points) hit the ice at the Nationwide Arena in the first of two meetings against each other this season. The game can be live streamed here. Minnesota fans can hear all of the bone-crunching action on KFAN-FM 100.3 while Columbus fans can do the same on WBNS-FM Sports Radio 97.1 The Fan.
Minnesota enters play having finally gotten its power play straightened out while Columbus will try to rebound after their Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender went down with an injury.
The Blue Jackets lost Sergei Bobrovsky after he exited their 1-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning On Tuesday and will now turn to Curtis McElhinney in between the pipes.
"Curtis is our No. 1 now," coach Todd Richards said via NHL.com. "I don't think it's going to change how our guys prepare or how they play. There may be a difference in style between Bob and Curtis, but players are going into games not thinking that they have to change or do something different."
McElhinney is 1-3-1 with a 2.34 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage this season.
After not scoring a power play goal in six games, the Wild exploded for two goals with the man-advantage in three tries during their 4-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks Thursday night.
"It was huge. Power play goals were great. We haven't had too many recently," said defenseman Marco Scandella, who had the game-winning goal, according to NHL.com. "We haven't gotten the bounces but tonight our guys did a great job. ...We've had a little rough patch recently but it's good to get a couple [wins] in a row here."
The Blue Jackets have been led by Ryan Johansen, who has four goals and five games and a total of 10 tallies and 10 helpers for 20 points this season while James Wisniewski has lit the lamp twice and added 16 assists for 18 points and Brandon Dubinsky, who returned from an ankle injury against Chicago, has five goals and 10 assists for 15 points.
The Wild counter with an offense that is led by captain Zach Parise, who has 24 points off of 12 goals and 12 assists while Mikko Koivu has found the back of the net six times and added 17 helpers for 23 points and Jason Pominville has notched 14 tallies and added six helpers for 20 points and is on a three-game point streak.
In the crease for the Wild, Josh Harding is 15-4-3 with a 1.52 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage this season.
The Wild look to keep their power play going while Columbus will try to carry on without their goaltender when the lights come on at Nationwide Arena tonight.
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