Game Preview: Looking To Make It Two In A Row, The Blue Jackets Are In Minnesota For A Clash With The Wild On Sunday Afternoon

MINNESOTA WILD
32-21-6 (70 points; .593%) ROSTER / SCHEDULE
2:00 P.M. – Sunday, FEBRUARY 26 XCEL ENERGY CENTER Minneapolis, MN
TELEVISION: Bally Sports Ohio ESPN+ (Out of Market)
PROJECTIONS:
ODDS OF CBJ WIN PER MONEYPUCK: 26%
ODDS OF CBJ WIN PER THE 538: 28%
CAESAR'S SPORTSBOOK: MIN -320

The Columbus Blue Jackets will play the Minnesota Wild for the second time in four days to wrap up the two-game season set.

Following an exciting 6-5 win over Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday afternoon at Nationwide Arena, Columbus tries to make it two straight against a Wild team that shut them out 2-0 on Thursday night.

The Wild are on a five-game point streak after losing 2-1 on Saturday at the Toronto Maple Leafs in overtime as they start a quick two-game homestand.

While the Blue Jackets try to get hot and play spoiler down the stretch, Minnesota is currently in fourth place in the Central Division and tied with the Seattle Kraken for the top wild card in the Western Conference. 

As we get set for another matinee matchup on Sunday afternoon, here's what to know when Columbus and Minnesota drop the puck at Xcel Energy Center:

TALKING POINTS: WILD

• Kirill Kaprizov leads the Wild with 68 points and 34 goals and is second on the team with 34 assists. His 34 goals are tied for 10th in the NHL. Kaprizov didn't record a point on Saturday night in Toronto, snapping a three-game point streak (three goals, one assist). He scored on Jonnas Korpisalo in Thursday's 2-0 win over the Blue Jackets and has four points (four goals, zero assists) in three career games against the team.
   
• Defenseman Calen Addison is one of the Wild's top rookies. He's currently sixth among all rookies with 27 points and is second with 24 assists. Addison leads the Wild with 18 assists on the power play. Head coach Dean Evason made Addison a healthy scratch for four consecutive games between Feb. 15 - Feb. 21 because of what the coach deemed as issues on the defensive end for the 22-year-old.
   
• Marc-Andre Fleury recorded his first shutout of the season on Thursday against the Blue Jackets, stopping all 30 shots. The shutout was his first career blanking of the Blue Jackets and the 73rd of his illustrious career which is 12th all-time. Yet, it's been a bit of a trying year for the future Hall of Famer who has four of his 17 wins against current playoff teams. He enters play 17-13-3 with a 2.89 GAA and .904 SV%. After their other ace in net, Filip Gustavsson (15-8-3, 2.11, .928), played against the Leafs on Saturday, it's expected Fleury will get his second straight crack against the Blue Jackets. 

TALKING POINTS: CBJ

• The Blue Jackets recorded six goals in a game on Saturday for the third time this season. The other times were a 6-4 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Nov. 17 and a 6-5 overtime win over the Los Angeles Kings on Dec. 11, with all three of those wins occurring at home. Jack Roslovic had a four-point game (two goals, two assists) in that win over the Kings and he did that again versus the Oilers on Saturday. The two-goal performance over Edmonton broke a 13-game drought in between goals, but Roslovic is second on the club with 28 assists and is tied for third with 34 points.
   
• Kirill Marchenko scored twice in the win over the Oilers on Saturday and is now up to 17 points (16 goals, one assist) in 36 games. The two-goal game broke a five-game pointless drought coming in and he's second among all rookies with 16 goals, and only three back of the Kraken's Matty Beniers. Marchenko has three career multigoal games and is the first Blue Jacket rookie to do that since Serge Aubin in 2000-01. Marchenko's 16 goals are the most for a player in Blue Jackets in his first 35 NHL games.
   
• Joonas Korpisalo battled his way through a 6-5 victory on Saturday with 41 saves on 47 shots, 23 of those coming in the third period. So expect Elvis Merzlikins to be making the start on Sunday. Merzlikins has been better of late but has allowed exactly three goals in each of his last four starts. He's allowed at least three goals in every start this season, but one against the Capitals in Washington—a 1-0 loss on Jan. 8—and a start against the Flyers on Nov. 15 when he let in two but left the game due to an injury.

PROJECTED CBJ LINES
Updated: 7:05 a.m. // Subject to Change