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Red-hot Blue Jackets take on struggling Wild

Dec 31, 2014 - 4:29 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - A pair of teams that have gone in opposite directions in December will meet Wednesday, as the Columbus Blue Jackets host the Minnesota Wild in a New Year's Eve battle at Nationwide Arena.

The Blue Jackets entered this month with a 6-15-2 record on the season, but Todd Richards' club has greatly improved its fortunes by posting a 9-1-1 mark so far in December. Despite the surge, Columbus still finds itself nine points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Minnesota, meanwhile, sits five points removed from the West's final wild card spot after recording a 4-4-3 mark since the start of December. The low point of the rough month came during a 0-2-3 losing streak, a skid the Wild was able to snap with Monday's road victory in Winnipeg.

After dropping the home part of a home-and-home series with the Jets in Saturday's 4-3 overtime loss, the Wild answered with a close win two days later in Winnipeg. Ryan Carter, Justin Fontaine and Marco Scandella all scored in the second period to help Minnesota notch the 3-2 decision at MTS Centre.

Darcy Kuemper. who missed the opener of the home-and-home due to an illness, was back between the pipes Monday and helped stopped the skid with a 28-save performance.

The Wild picked up the victory despite allowing Winnipeg to score twice on three chances with the man advantage. Minnesota went 0-for-4 on the power play.

"Our guys did a great job staying with it. I'm real happy with the way we played the game, the contributions from everybody," Wild head coach Mike Yeo said.

The win pushed Minnesota's road record this season to 8-9-0. Yeo's club is capping a brief two-game trip tonight before opening the 2015 calendar year by playing four of five games on home ice.

The Blue Jackets are 2-1-1 at the start of a five-game homestand after beginning December on a seven-game winning streak. The club had an 8-0-1 point streak snapped with a 5-1 loss to Nashville on Dec. 22, but rebounded from that setback with a resounding win its first tilt following the Christmas break.

Columbus emerged from the holiday hiatus on Saturday and recorded a 6-2 win over the Boston Bruins. Scott Hartnell led the offense by scoring twice in his return from injury, while Kevin Connauton added a goal and two assists.

Hartnell came back after a five-game absence due to a broken finger and picked up his third multi-goal effort of the season and first since Nov. 8 against Tampa Bay. He scored his team's first two goals on Saturday.

Nick Foligno, Matt Calvert and Jeremy Morin also lit the lamp for the Blue Jackets. Jack Johnson and Brandon Dubinsky each chipped in a pair of helpers to back a 26-save effort from Curtis McElhinney.

"He made some big saves ... especially at the start of the third period," Calvert said of McElhinney.

McElhinney started Saturday in place of No. 1 netminder Sergei Bobrovsky, who was unable to suit up for the game due to an illness. However, Bobrovsky is expected to start tonight and owns a 3-1-0 record and 1.68 goals against average in four career games against the Wild.

Saturday's win pushed the Blue Jackets' home record to 8-9-2. Columbus will head out on the road after tonight, as it will begin a four-game swing Saturday in Arizona.

Columbus has won three straight and five of the last seven meetings against the Wild. The clubs have split the last four encounters at Nationwide Arena.






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