PREVIEW: Blue Jackets take on Minnesota ahead of break

BLUE JACKETS (28-16-3) at WILD (23-21-3)Saturday, 9 p.m., XCel Energy Center, St. Paul (FOX Sports Ohio, CBJ app, FOX Sports app, 97.1 The Fan)
As the Blue Jackets have moved through the month of January, there's been a common mantra espoused by players and coaches.
With the team facing a dog days stretch of seven games in 12 days leading up to the winter break, the message was clear - it would be easy to look ahead to five days off, but finishing on the right note was crucial.
"You can't take a night off in this league, and things tighten up every year after Christmas," defenseman Seth Jones said when the team got into its January schedule. "This little bit here in January before the bye week, we keep talking about how it's going to be very important for us."

It wasn't always easy but by and large the Blue Jackets passed the test. Going into Saturday night's game at Minnesota, the last game for the team in 10 days, Columbus has won four of its last five.
Of course, it wasn't always easy. The team dealt with the situation around goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky after a Jan. 8 loss at Tampa and seemed to emerge stronger from it, winning four straight games afterward including two against division leaders in Nashville and Washington. In both of those games, the Blue Jackets gave up the tying goal in the final minutes only to emerge with the win in overtime.
Head coach John Tortorella is fond of calling the January and February stretch of the season the "dog days" - the time of year when the grind takes its toll, the excitement of the beginning of the season is far in the rearview mirror, and the playoffs are still a bit down the road.
One thing that has impressed the coach of late, then, is how his team has consistently prepared to play. There have been occasional hiccups, but by and large the team has shown up for games ever since a Dec. 8 loss to the Capitals at home prompted a team reset to address sloppy play.
"It's our job to get ready to play," Tortorella said. "As I've said to you guys, the consistency that we've had is we've been ready to play."

The Blue Jackets were ready to play last night in a 4-1 loss to Montreal, but it wasn't the result the team was hoping for. Columbus put 35 shots on Habs goalie Carey Price but only one found the net, and it seemed like the team was just an inch off on everything it did.
"We tried tonight," said Oliver Bjorkstrand, who scored the team's only goal of the game. "I think there were some good things. There were probably some bad things, too, but we battled hard and just couldn't get it done."
Even as Columbus has won 12 of its last 17 games, the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference have tightened. Columbus sits ties with Washington in second place in the Metro, one point behind the New York Islanders and one ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
"These are important points," Pierre-Luc Dubois said after the loss to Montreal. "It's not easy. Tomorrow's game is a big game to get the two points we didn't get tonight."
Know the Foe
Columbus catches Minnesota in the midst of a hectic stretch for the Wild, who will be playing their eighth game in 13 days. Minnesota holds a 3-4-0 record in the first seven games of that stretch and is in fifth place in the Central Division, tied for the last wild card spot in the Western Conference.
The Wild is just 26th in the league in scoring with 2.77 goals per game, while the team allows 2.89, 11th in the league. Special teams are strong, with Minnesota's power play at a 21.3-percent clip (12th) and the penalty kill working at an 85.1-percent mark (second in the NHL).
Veteran Zach Parise leads the way with 19 goals and 41 points, both team highs, while Mikael Granlund is right behind with a 12-27-39 line. Eric Staal adds 14 goals and 30 points, while Ryan Suter (5-25-30), Jared Spurgeon (7-20-27) and Matthew Dumba (12 goals) add offense from the blue line. In net, Devan Dubnyk (17-16-3) has started 37 games with a 2.64 goals-against average and .912 save percentage. Alex Stalock (6-5-0, 2.91, .894) is the backup.
The teams played Nov. 29 in Columbus, with the Blue Jackets taking a 4-2 victory.

Notes
Captain Nick Foligno's brother, Marcus, is in his second year with the Wild. He has a 3-6-9 line in 47 games. ... Minnesota made two trades this week, acquiring Pontus Aberg from Anaheim for Justin Kloos and dealing Nino Neiderreiter to Carolina for Victor Rask. ... The Blue Jackets are 9-2-1 in the last 12 games of the Minnesota series. ... Sergei Bobrovsky is s 9-2-1 with a 1.80 GAA and .937 save percentage in 12 career games vs. the Wild. ... Columbus is the only team in the NHL to not allow a power play goal in 2019, killing off all 19 opponent power play chances in nine outings since Dec. 31.
Blue Jackets projected lineup
Artemi Panarin - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Cam Atkinson
Nick Foligno - Boone Jenner - Josh Anderson
Brandon Dubinsky - Alex Wennberg - Anthony Duclair
Oliver Bjorkstrand - Riley Nash - Lukas Sedlak
Zach Werenski - Seth Jones
Ryan Murray - Markus Nutivaara
Scott Harrington - David Savard
Sergei Bobrovsky
Joonas Korpisalo
Scratched: Dean Kukan, Anthony Duclair
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