Overview
- Columbus and Winnipeg, which meet Saturday in Ohio, face a late-season test with each club fighting for a wild-card berth.
- Winnipeg sits three points back of the Western Conference’s final spot, while Columbus is tied for the last Eastern slot but trails on the regulation-wins tiebreaker.
- Columbus enters on a five-game skid after a 5-1 loss in Carolina, and four of those defeats came in regulation, which hurts more because the club trails on the key tiebreak.
- Winnipeg’s post-Olympic surge gave way to a 3-0 loss in Dallas, and coach Scott Arniel and captain Adam Lowry stressed that the team must play with urgency with seven games left.
- Injuries shape both lineups as Blue Jackets defenseman Damon Severson is out for the season with a shoulder injury, and Jets forwards Nino Niederreiter and Vladislav Namestnikov plus defenseman Elias Salomonsson are day-to-day.