Wild at Blue Jackets preview

WILD (31-25-7) at BLUE JACKETS (31-20-14)
7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, FS-O, FS-N, NHL.TV

The Wild, who have won two straight and are 11-5-1 in their past 17 games, are three points behind the Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets, tied for the second wild card from the West.
The Blue Jackets, 1-4-5 in the past 10 games after going 9-0-1 in their previous 10, are two points behind the New York Islanders for the first wild card in the Eastern Conference and three behind the Philadelphia Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan Division.
Center Alex Wennberg will return to the Columbus lineup after missing 12 games with an upper-body injury.

Players to watch

Wild forward Kevin Fiala has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past two games and 17 points (nine goals, eight assists) in his past 12.
Blue Jackets forward Nick Foligno has three goals in his past two games and five points (four goals, one assist) in his past four.

They said it

"Nobody was really taxed, and we were able to roll a 60 on all four lines. There's no question when you get a back-to-back it's nice to conserve some energy." -- Wild coach Dean Evason after a 7-1 win at the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday
"He was playing, as I said when he went out, some of his best hockey. He helps us in the middle of the ice. We've been bouncing people around." -- Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella on the return of center Alexander Wennberg

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 -- Matt Dumba
Brad Hunt -- Greg Pateryn
Devan Dubnyk
Alex Stalock
Scratched: Victor Rask
Injured: Luke Kunin (upper body), Carson Soucy (upper body)

Blue Jackets projected lineup

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

Status report

The Wild did not hold a morning skate. … There was no update on Merzlikins. The goalie was injured in a collision with Ottawa Senators forward Anthony Duclair on Monday. … Nash (undisclosed) returns after missing one game.

Stat pack

Minnesota has won four straight road games, outscoring opponents 19-9. … Bemstrom has scored one goal in three straight games.