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MINNESOTA WILD SATURDAY, OCT. 17 7:00 P.M. NATIONWIDE ARENA COLUMBUS, OH |
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MINNESOTA: |
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Kent Johnson is out.
David Jiricek is in.
Those are the changes to the lineup Saturday night when the Columbus Blue Jackets face the Minnesota Wild for the second (and final) time this season.
The extent of Johnson's injury is not yet known, but head coach Dean Evason said that the time the young forward will be out of action is "not short term."
Johnson had a goal and an assist against the Wild in last Thursday's season-opening 3-2 loss. Minnesota comes to Columbus on three days rest, but also in the midst of an irregularly-long seven-game road trip. In their last game, goaltender Filip Gustavsson scored an empty-net goal to cement a 4-1 win over the St. Louis Blues.
Gustavsson, who has stopped 91 of 96 shots (.948%) to start the season, is back in net Saturday night against the Blue Jackets.
Here's what else to know when the Blue Jackets continue a four-game homestand:
| CBJ | SEASON STATS | MIN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.25 | 4th | GOALS FOR | 20th | 3.00 |
| 3.75 | t-22nd | GOALS AGAINST | t-6th | 2.25 |
| 27.3% | 10th | POWER PLAY | t-7th | 30.8% |
| 75.0% | 23rd | PENALTY KILL | 29th | 66.7% |
| 29.8 | 15th | SHOTS FOR | 16th | 29.5 |
| 25.5 | 6th | SHOTS AGAINST | 27th | 32.5 |
| 49.0% | 18th | FACEOFFS | 16th | 49.6% |
| MINNESOTA'S LAST THREE GAMES | ||||
| SAT, 10/12 | vs. Kraken | L, 5-4 (SO) | ||
| SUN, 10/13 | @ Jets | L, 2-1 (OT) | ||
| TUES, 10/15 | @ Blues | W, 4-1 | ||
| MINNESOTA'S TEAM LEADERS | ||||
| GOALS |
Matt Boldy Ryan Hartman Mats Zuccarello |
2 | ||
| ASSISTS | Kirill Kaprizov | 5 | ||
| POINTS | Kirill Kaprizov | 6 | ||
| ODDS & PROJECTIONS | ||||
| CBJ WIN PER MONEYPUCK: | 37% | |||
| BETESPN ODDS: | CBJ +155 | |||
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With the lineup changes, the Blue Jackets will go with 11 forwards and seven defenseman on the ice. Zach Aston-Reese gets the biggest elevation in the lineup, moving from the fourth line up to the second. He'll be centered by Adam Fantilli and opposite of Justin Danforth, who is bumped up from the third line.
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The Blue Jackets top line of Yegor Chinakhov, Sean Monahan, and Kirill Marchenko has been one of the hottest lines in the league through first chunk of October. The trio is averaging 6.17 goals per 60 minutes. That's sixth best amongst the 61 lines who have skated 30 minutes or more together this season. In part because of that, the Blue Jackets are fourth in the NHL in goals per game (4.25) and 10th in power play (27.3%). Is this a product of a little early-season puck-luck or something more?
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The biggest weakness through the first four games: goaltending. Both Elvis Merzlikins and Daniil Tarasov — who gets the start Saturday — are trending below average in every category. Tarasov's goals against versus expected goals against is at -0.61, while Merzlikins' -1.87 figure is fourth-worst amongst goalies who have played in more than one game. Jet Greaves was called up Wednesday and was the back-up in Thursday's win (started by Tarasov). How many more games until he might get a chance?
- Here are the detailed line projections:
| LW | C | RW | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 59 | Yegor Chinakhov | 23 | Sean Monahan | 82 | Kirill Marchenko |
| 27 | Zach Aston-Reese | 19 | Adam Fantilli | 17 | Justin Danforth |
| 82 | Mikael Pyyhtia | 4 | Cole Sillinger | 24 | Mathieu Olivier |
| 21 | James van Riemsdyk | 7 | Sean Kuraly | ||
| LD | RD | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Zach Werenski | 9 | Ivan Provorov |
| 2 | Jake Christiansen | 78 | Damon Severson |
| 22 | Jordan Harris | 3 | Jack Johnson |
| 55 | David Jiricek | ||
| Starting Goalie | Back-Up | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | Daniil Tarasov | Jet Greaves | |
