Blue Jackets at Wild preview

BLUE JACKETS (31-19-14) at WILD (29-25-7)
8 p.m. ET; FS-N, FS-O, NHL.TV

Goalie Elvis Merzlikins sustained an undisclosed injury in a collision with Ottawa Senators forward Anthony Duclair in the second period of the Blue Jackets' 4-3 overtime win on Monday.
Columbus, 1-3-5 in its past nine games after going 9-0-1 in its previous 10 games, is tied with the New York Islanders for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference and is one point behind the Philadelphia Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan Division.
Devin Shore will make his Blue Jackets debut as fourth-line center after he was acquired in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks for forward Sonny Milano on Monday.
The Wild, 9-5-1 in their past 15 games after going 1-5-1 in their previous seven, trail the Calgary Flames and Arizona Coyotes by five points for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference.

Players to watch

Blue Jackets forward Boone Jenner has four points (one goal, three assists) in a three-game point streak.
Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon has 11 points (seven goals, four assists) in his past 15 games, including seven power-play points (three goals, four assists).

They said it

"I'll give you my thoughts [on Devin Shore] after I see him play a few games. I'll tell you one thing, in talking to him yesterday, he's really excited about the opportunity, and gives us an opportunity to get some fresher legs, too." -- Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella
"[Columbus is] very obviously [a] structured team. Very hard working, shot-blocking, tough to get to the net. A lot of challenges that a lot of teams in this league do but they do it extremely well in those areas." -- Wild coach Dean Evason

Blue Jackets projected lineup

Gustav Nyquist -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Nick Foligno
Stefan Matteau -- Boone Jenner -- Nathan Gerbe
Calvin Thurkauf -- Kevin Stenlund -- Emil Bemstrom
Eric Robinson -- Devin Shore -- Jakob Lilja
Zach Werenski -- Markus Nutivaara
Vladislav Gavrikov -- David Savard
Scott Harrington -- Andrew Peeke
Joonas Korpisalo
Matiss Kivlenieks
Scratched: Gabriel Carlsson
Injured: Riley Nash (undisclosed), Elvis Merzlikins (undisclosed), Brandon Dubinsky (wrist), Josh Anderson (shoulder), Ryan Murray (lower body), Alexandre Texier (back), Dean Kukan (knee), Alexander Wennberg (upper body), Seth Jones (ankle), Cam Atkinson (ankle), Oliver Bjorkstrand (ankle)

Wild projected lineup

Gerry Mayhew -- Eric Staal -- Kevin Fiala
Marcus Foligno -- Alex Galchenyuk -- Mats Zuccarello
Zach Parise -- Joel Eriksson Ek -- Jordan Greenway
Ryan Donato -- Mikko Koivu -- Ryan Hartman
Ryan Suter -- Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin -- Mathew Dumba
Brad Hunt -- Greg Pateryn
Alex Stalock
Devan Dubnyk
Scratched:Victor Rask
Injured:Luke Kunin (upper body), Carson Soucy (upper body)

Status report

Kivlenieks was recalled on an emergency basis from Cleveland of the American Hockey League on Monday. … Kunin, a center, took part in the optional morning skate for the first time since being injured Feb. 21. He remains 10-14 days from returning. … Minnesota assigned defenseman Louie Belpedio to Iowa of the AHL on Monday.

Stat pack

Nyquist has 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in 15 games against Minnesota in his NHL career. … Fiala has 12 points (seven goals, five assists) in his past 10 games.