Wild to Watch

«  G Filip Gustavsson is 15-8-2 with a 2.11 GAA and .928 SV% in 26 contests this season, ranking second in the NHL in GAA and SV% (min. 20 GP) and is riding a five-game points streak since February 11 (4-0-1, 1.53 GAA, .948 SV%).

«  LW Kirill Kaprizov, who leads the team in goals and points with 33-34-67 in 57 games this season, has registered points in 12 of his last 14 games since Jan. 19 (8-7-15).

«  RW Mats Zuccarello enters Thursday’s contest as the club’s assist leader with 20-36-56 points in 55 games this season and has picked up points in nine of his last 11 outings (2-9-11).

All-Time Series

«  CBJ are 31-25-6 in 62 career games against the Wild, including 19-9-2 at home.

«  The home team won each game after regulation (CBJ in SO) in 2021-22 and has registered points in eight of the last nine meetings since Mar. 2, 2017 (6-1-2).

«  Seven of the last nine games in the series have been decided by a single goal.

«  The Blue Jackets have picked up points in 12 of the last 17 meetings dating back to Apr. 13, 2013 (10-5-2).

«  CBJ are 5-2-1 in the last eight home contests against the Wild and 9-5-1 in the past 15 games at Nationwide Arena.

«  Columbus has scored a power play goal in three of the last four home games of the series (3-of-11; 27.3 pct.).

«  The Jackets own seven of the 11 shutouts in the all-time series but the Wild registered the most recent one when Alex Stalock stopped all 22 shots in a 5-0 win at Nationwide Arena on Feb. 28, 2020.

This Season (0-0-0)

«  Feb. 23, 2023 – at Columbus (7:00 p.m. ET)

«  Feb. 26, 2023 – at Minnesota (2:00 p.m. ET)

Player Notables vs. Wild

«  LW Johnny Gaudreau – 4-16-20 in 20 career GP, including points in all but six of his career contests, points in five-straight games played overall (2-6-8) and each of his last seven home contests against Minnesota (1-7-8)

«  LW Patrik Laine – 10-5-15 in 19 career GP, including 7-4-11 in nine career home games against the club.

«  G Elvis Merzlikins – 1-0-1 record with a 2.40 GAA and .934 SV% in 2 career GP, including stopping 35-plus shots in both contests of the series in 2022-23 (36-of-38 for .947 SV% and 1.88 GAA on Mar. 11 vs. Minnesota).

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• Columbus went 2-1-1 last week, including picking up points in each of its last three games (2-0-1) after registering a point in a 3-2 overtime loss at Arizona.
• The club has registered points in four of its last five contests (3-1-1) with wins against three of the top- 10 teams in the League (Toronto-4^th; Dallas-8^th; Winnipeg- 9^th-T).
• Trailing 1-0 to Winnipeg last Thursday, the Blue Jackets earned their ninth comeback victory of the campaign.  The club had come-from-behind to win in four of its last five victories, trailing 2-0 and 3-2 in a 5-3 win vs. San Jose (Jan. 21), 2-1 in a 3-2 OT win at Edmonton (Jan. 25), 2-0 in a 4-3 win at Toronto (Feb. 11) and 1-0 in the 3-1 win vs. Winnipeg (Feb. 16).
• CBJ rank seventh-T in the NHL in goals-against/game since returning from the NHL break on February 10, allowing 2.33 GAA over six contests (14 goals).
• The Blue Jackets have scored a power play goal in three of the last five games (3-for-12; 25.0 pct.) and are 8-for-34 on the man advantage over the last 12 contests dating back to January 21 (23.5 pct).
• Columbus blueliners have registered 8-22-30 in the last 18 contests and 24-63-87 in 57 games this season after combining for three assists at Arizona.
• With F Liam Foudy’s goal against Dallas on Saturday, every player on the 22-man active roster has scored a goal in 2022-23.  The club has had a League-high 26 different goal scorers this season.
• CBJ rookies have combined for 21-17-38 over the last 26 games and lead all NHL teams in goals and rank second in points with 34-34-68 in 57 contests in 2022-23.  It’s the third-most goals scored by team rookies in franchise history and trailing only 2017-18 (37) and 2019-20 (35). RW Kirill Marchenko (14) and C Kent Johnson (12) are the third pair of rookie teammates to score double digit goals in a single season in club history, joining C Serge Aubin (13) and RW David Vyborny (13) in 2000-01 and C Pierre-Luc Dubois (20) and LW Sonny Milano (14) in 2017-18.

BLUE JACKETS PLAYER NOTES

• D Adam Boqvist recorded an assist at Arizona on Sunday to set a new career high with points in four-straight games (2-3-5).  He ranks 15^th among NHL blueliners in scoring since January 5^th with 2-12-14 in 17 contests.  The 22-year-old has registered 2-13-15 in 25 appearances in 2022-23 and sits one assist shy of tying his single-season career high (14 in 35 GP with CHI in 2020-21).
• LW Johnny Gaudreau, who has missed the weekend back-to-back at Dallas and Arizona with a lower body injury, has collected points three-straight contests played (1-2-3) and nine of his last 11 games (3-8-11).  He leads the team in assists and points and ranks third in goals with 15-37-52 in 55 contests this season.  He set the franchise record for fewest games played to record 50 career points (53 GP), surpassing the mark set by Ray Whitney (56 GP).
• C Boone Jenner picked up his seventh multi-point game of the season after collecting point on both Blue Jackets goals at Arizona (1-1-2).  The forward, who leads the team in goals (17), has notched 3-3-6 in his last five outings and 6-4-10 in the past 12 games.
• C Sean Kuraly, who posted a career-high 10 hits on Sunday at Arizona, leads the team and ranks 12th among NHL forwards in hits with 149 in 55 contests this season.
• LW Patrik Laine registered 2-2-4 in four contents last week, including notching his 16^th goal of the season against the Coyotes.  He has posted 7-12-19 with five multi-point efforts in 18 outings since January 10^th.
• C Kent Johnson has registered 2-1-3 in his last five outings and 4-4-8 in his past 12 contests.  He ranks fifth-T among League rookies in points and sixth in goals with 12-15-27 in 54 games.
• G Joonas Korpisalo has turned aside 65-of-67 shots (.970 SV%) in victories over Winnipeg and Dallas last week and has posted a 6-5-2 record with a 2.78 GAA and .923 SV% in 15 games dating back to December 9.
• RW Kirill Marchenko ranks second-T among NHL rookie goal scorers in 2022-23 with 14-1-15 in 34 games but leads League rookies in goals and ranks fifth in points since making his NHL debut on December 6.
• D Andrew Peeke ranks 13^th-T in the NHL in blocked shots this season (120) and has registered a blocked shot in 49 of his 55 contests this season.

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• GM Jarmo Kekalainen is eight games from 800 for his NHL GM career.
• D Gavin Bayreuther is three games from 100 for his NHL career (5-16-21, 97 GP).
• D Erik Gudbranson is three games from 700 for his NHL career (28-76-104, 697 GP).
• LW Patrik Laine is eight goals from 200 for his NHL career (192-170-263, 449 GP).

OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT

• D Jake Bean (shoulder) is on Injured Reserve (Nov. 17); out 4-to-6 months (42 games)
• RW Yegor Chinakhov (ankle) is on Injured Reserve (Dec. 20); 4 weeks (26 games)
• C/RW Justin Danforth (torn labrum) is on Injured Reserve (Oct. 25); 6 months (51 games)
• LW Johnny Gaudreau (lower body) is day-to-day (2 games)
• RW Carson Meyer (oblique strain) is on Injured Reserve (Jan. 10); 6-to-8 weeks (17 games)
• LW Gustav Nyquist (shoulder) is on Injured Reserve (Jan. 25); expected to miss rest of reg. season (9 games)
• LW Jakub Voracek (upper body) is on Injured Reserve (Nov. 4); out indefinitely (46 games)
• D Zach Werenski (shoulder separation/torn labrum) is on Injured Reserve (Nov. 10); expected to miss rest or reg. season (44 games)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 391

COURTESY BLUE JACKETS MEDIA RELATIONS