Wild to Watch

«  G Filip Gustavsson is 15-8-3 with a 2.11 GAA and .928 SV% in 27 contests this season, ranking second in the NHL in GAA and SV% (min. 20 GP) and is riding a six-game points streak since February 11 (4-0-2, 1.60 GAA, .944 SV%).

«  LW Kirill Kaprizov, who leads the team in goals and points with 34-34-68 in 59 games this season, has registered points in 13 of his last 16 games since Jan. 19 (9-7-16).

«  RW Mats Zuccarello enters Sunday’s contest as the club’s assist leader with 20-36-56 points in 57 games this season and has picked up points in nine of his last 13 outings (2-9-11).

All-Time Series

«  CBJ are 31-26-6 in 63 career games against the Wild, including 12-16-4 on the road.

«  The home team has registered points in eight of the last 10 meetings since Mar. 2, 2017 (6-2-2).

«  CBJ have earned points in nine of the last 14 games at Xcel Energy Center since Oct. 16, 2010 (8-5-1) but the Wild have won the past three home contests (CBJ; 0-2-1).

«  Seven of the last 10 games in the series have been decided by a single goal.

«  The Blue Jackets have picked up points in 12 of the last 18 meetings dating back to Apr. 13, 2013 (10-6-2).

«  The Jackets own seven of the 12 shutouts in the all-time series but the Wild registered the two most recent ones, including a 30-save shutout by Marc-Andre Fleury in Thursday’s 2-0 victory at Nationwide Arena.

This Season (0-1-0)

«  Feb. 23, 2023 – MIN 2, at CBJ 0

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

Player Notables vs. Wild

«  LW Johnny Gaudreau – 4-16-20 in 21 career GP, including points in all but seven of his career contests and multiple points in each of his last three games at Minnesota (1-5-6).

«  LW Patrik Laine – 10-5-15 in 20 career GP, including 2-1-3 in his last three contests at Minnesota.

«  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 2021-22.

BLUE JACKETS TEAM NOTES

• The Blue Jackets complete their 12^th of 17 back-to-back sets at Minnesota (Sunday) after defeating the Oilers 6-5 on Saturday.
• Columbus has recorded points in four of the last five games (3-1-1) following the victory over Edmonton.
• The club has registered points in five of its last seven contests (4-2-1) with wins against four of the top-11 teams in the League (Toronto 4^th; Dallas 9^th; Edmonton 10^th;  Winnipeg 11^th).
• The Blue Jackets, who are 2-0-1 in their last three home games, kick off a stretch of 12-of-15 games played on the road through the end of March on Sunday. The lone home games during that stretch are March 3 (vs. Seattle), March 11 (vs. St. Louis) and March 24 (vs. NY Islanders).
• CBJ have allowed 21 goals over their last eight games, ranking 10th in the NHL in goals-against/game (2.63) since returning from the NHL break on February 10.
• The Blue Jackets have scored a power play goal in four of the last seven games (4-for-17; 23.5 pct.) and are 9-for-39 on the man advantage over the last 14 contests dating back to January 21 (23.1 pct).
• Columbus blueliners have registered 8-24-32 in the last 20 contests and 24-65-89 in 59 games this season.
• CBJ rookies combined for 2-1-3 in Saturday’s victory over Edmonton.  They have racked up 23-18-41 over the last 28 games and lead all NHL teams in goals and rank second in points with 36-35-71 in 59 contests in 2022-23.  It’s the second-most goals scored by team rookies in franchise history, trailing only 2017-18 (37). RW Kirill Marchenko (16) 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 collected an assist vs. Edmonton and has picked up 2-4-6 in his last six contests.  He ranks 15^th-T among NHL blueliners in scoring since January 5^th with 2-13-15 in 19 contests.  The 22-year-old has registered 2-14-16 in 27 appearances in 2022-23 to tie his single-season career high (14 in 35 GP with CHI in 2020-21).
• LW Johnny Gaudreau posted two assists on Saturday for his team-leading 10^th multi-assist effort and 14^th multi-point outing of the campaign.  He leads the team in assists and points with 15-39-54 in 57 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 eighth multi-point game of the season – and second in the last three games – with 1-1-2 on Saturday.  The forward, who leads the team in goals (18), has notched 4-4-8 in his last seven outings and 7-5-12 in his past 14 games.
• C Kent Johnson has registered 4-5-9 in his past 14 contests.  He ranks fifth among League rookies in points and sixth in goals with 12-16-28 in 56 games.
• G Joonas Korpisalo has turned aside 130-of-139 shots in his past four games (.935 SV%), including victories over Winnipeg, Dallas and Edmonton.  He ranks seventh-T in the NHL in SV% since December 9 (min. 13 GP) with a 7-6-2 record, 2.88 GAA and .921 SV% in 17 games.
• C Sean Kuraly leads the team and ranks 12^th-T among NHL forwards in hits with 152 in 57 contests this season.
• LW Patrik Laine registered his fourth three-point and 11th multi-point game of the campaign with 1-2-3 against Edmonton.  He has not posted 3-4-7 in his last six contests and 8-14-22 with six multi-point efforts in 20 outings since Jan. 10.
• RW Kirill Marchenko tallied two goals for his third multi-goal effort of the season on Saturday.  He ranks second among NHL rookie goal scorers in 2022-23 with 16-1-17 in 36 games but leads League rookies in goals and ranks fourth-T in points since making his NHL debut on December 6.  The 16 goals are tied for third-most by a rookie in a single season in franchise history (Jenner in 2013-14; Sillinger in 2021-22).
• D Andrew Peeke ranks 13^th in the NHL in blocked shots this season (124) and has registered a blocked shot in 51 of his 57 contests this season.
• C Jack Roslovic notched his second four-point game of the season with two goals and two assists against Edmonton.  He has now collected points in 2-5-7 in his past seven games.

BLUE JACKETS MILESTONES

• GM Jarmo Kekalainen is six games from 800 for his NHL GM career.

«  D Gavin Bayreuther is one game from 100 for his NHL career (5-17-22, 99 GP).

• D Erik Gudbranson is one game from 700 for his NHL career (28-76-104, 699 GP).
• LW Patrik Laine is seven goals from 200 for his NHL career (193-172-266, 451 GP).

OhioHEALTH INJURY REPORT

• D Jake Bean (shoulder) is on Injured Reserve (Nov. 17); out 4-to-6 months (44 games)
• RW Yegor Chinakhov (ankle) is on Injured Reserve (Dec. 20); 4 weeks (28 games)
• C/RW Justin Danforth (torn labrum) is on Injured Reserve (Oct. 25); 6 months (53 games)
• RW Carson Meyer (oblique strain) is on Injured Reserve (Jan. 10); 6-to-8 weeks (19 games)
• LW Gustav Nyquist (shoulder) is on Injured Reserve (Jan. 25); expected to miss rest of reg. season (11 games)
• LW Jakub Voracek (upper body) is on Injured Reserve (Nov. 4); out indefinitely (48 games)
• D Zach Werenski (shoulder separation/torn labrum) is on Injured Reserve (Nov. 10); expected to miss rest or reg. season (46 games)

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 406

COURTESY BLUE JACKETS COMMUNICATIONS