The Minnesota Wild and Columbus Blue Jackets faced off on Saturday evening, Oct. 11 at Grand Casino Arena for the Wild’s home opener. While the Blue Jackets came into the game healthy, the Wild did not. They were without Mats Zuccarello and Nico Sturm; however, Jonas Brodin returned to the lineup after missing just one game. Originally, he was expected to miss more time, but recovered quicker than expected.
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Filip Gustavsson was in the net for the Wild after posting a shutout to open the season on Thursday night, Oct. 9, against the St. Louis Blues. Elvis Merzļikins was in the net for the Blue Jackets; it was his season debut. The Blue Jackets got the early lead, and although the Wild fought back, it wasn’t enough as the Blue Jackets took the win 7-4.
Game Recap
The game started pretty fast-paced with a few missed passes both ways, but once the players settled down, it was the Blue Jackets who took the first lead. Miles Wood scored his first goal of the season and gave his team a 1-0 lead early in the period. He was assisted by Zach Aston-Reese. That was the only goal of the first, and the Blue Jackets took the lead into the second.
The Blue Jackets got things started off the opening faceoff in the second period with a goal by Kirill Marchenko seven seconds in. He was assisted by Dmitri Voronkov and Ivan Provorov to give their team a 2-0 lead. The Wild stormed back with back-to-back goals on the power play. The first goal was scored by Matt Boldy, and Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov assisted him. The second goal was scored by Kaprizov, and the assists went to Boldy and Vladimir Tarasenko to tie the game 2-2.
The Blue Jackets responded with barely a minute left to take a 3-2 lead on Marchenko’s second goal of the night. He was assisted by Voronkov and Zach Weresnki. That was the final goal of the period, and the Blue Jackets took the lead into the final period.
The Blue Jackets extended their lead early in the third period with a goal by Werenski to make it 4-2. He was assisted by Adam Fantilli and Cole Sillinger. A few minutes later, Marchenko scored on the power play, his third of the game, to make it 5-2. He was assisted by Weresnki and Boone Jenner. The Wild responded with their own power play goal scored by Zeev Buium. It was the first goal of his NHL career, and he was assisted by Eriksson Ek and Boldy to make it 5-3.
Before the Wild could finish celebrating, Fantilli deflected a Jenner shot past Gustavsson to give his team a 6-3 lead. He was assisted by Jenner. The Wild answered back late in the period on a power-play goal by Kaprizov. His second goal of the game, and he was assisted by Marco Rossi and Buium, to make it 6-4. The final goal of the game was scored by Jenner on an empty net to make it 7-4, and the Blue Jackets took the win.
The Wild remain at home to host the Los Angeles Kings on Monday, Oct. 13. The Blue Jackets head back home to host the New Jersey Devils also on Monday.
