Minnesota Wild (2-0-2) at Columbus  Blue Jackets (2-2-0)
Nationwide Arena – Saturday, October 19, 2024 – 7:00 p.m.

Blue Jackets and Wild have already played this season:
Columbus and Minnesota opened the season in St. Paul on Oct. 10 with the Wild winning 3-2. Minnesota’s Matt Boldy led Minnesota with a goal and two assists. Kent Johnson had a goal and an assist for the Blue Jackets.

Previous game for both:
– The Blue Jackets beat the Buffalo Sabres 6-4 at Nationwide Arena Thursday. Six different Jackets recorded goals, with three of the scorers adding two assists each.
– The Wild scored the first three goals of the game in St. Louis en route to a 4-1 win Wednesday. One of the goal-scorers was goalie Filip Gustavsson (see below). 

Players to watch:
– For the Blue Jackets
   – Zach Werenski (#8) – Werenski was outstanding last season for the Blue Jackets, but he is off to a hotter start this time around. He’s already scored two goals to go with two assists in the clubs first four games.
   – Kirill Marchenko (#86) – Marchenko continues to grow in his role as a scorer for the Blue Jackets. In the team’s first four games, he has two goals and four assists. His passing skills have been fun to watch.
– For the Wild
   – Kirill Kaprizov (#97) – Kaprizov won the Calder Trophy (NHL rookie of the year) after the 2020-21 season. He is one of only four NHL players with 40-plus goals in each of the last three seasons (Matthews, Pastrnak, Draisatl).
   – Joel Eriksson Ek (#14) – Eriksson Ek played in his 500th NHL game on Oct. 12 against the Seattle Kraken. A solid two-way player, he serves as the first line center with wingers Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy.

Tarasov in goal for the Jackets:
Daniil Tarasov will be the starting goaltender against the Wild. He has two wins in as many games so far this season, including Thursday’s home victory against Buffalo.

Goalie Gustavsson – goal-scorer:
Minnesota goaltender Filip Gustavsson scored the first goal of his NHL career Wednesday against St. Louis on an empty-netter, with the Wild on a power play. Only 15 goalies have scored a total of 18 goals in NHL history.

New TV network name:
Starting Monday, Bally Sports Ohio will be rebranded to FanDuel Sports Network.

Trivia Question:
The Blue Jackets and Wild both began play in 2000. Who scored the first goal for each team?
See the answer in tonight’s game story