Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson remembers a lesson from two seasons ago.
Gustavsson is coming off a shutout victory in the Wild’s season opener Thursday night against the St. Louis Blues. The same thing happened to start the 2023-24 campaign, when Gustavsson blanked the Florida Panthers in the season opener.
“But then I had a bad second game against Toronto,” said Gustavsson, who allowed seven goals in his encore performance. “So I’m going to have to get better (the) second game.”
The 27-year-old netminder will get his opportunity when the Wild face off against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday evening in St. Paul, Minn. It will be the home opener for Minnesota and the second straight road game for Columbus.
As the Wild go for back-to-back victories, the Blue Jackets will try to avoid two straight losses. They fell short 2-1 against the Nashville Predators in their season opener Thursday.
Against Minnesota, the Blue Jackets must choose whether to start their up-and-coming prospect or their seasoned veteran in net.
Jet Greaves got the opening start and sustained a hard-luck loss against the Predators. Greaves stopped 29 of 31 shots but allowed a power-play goal in the third period that proved to be the difference.
“I think there were some positives, but also some things to improve on,” Greaves said. “It’s a good step, but there’s a lot for myself and for us to learn from going forward.”
Greaves, 24, never has faced the Wild in his brief career.
The Blue Jackets also could turn to Elvis Merzlikins in net. The 31-year-old served a backup role in the season opener but has 94 victories over six NHL seasons.
Merzlikins has faced the Wild five times in his career. He is 2-1-2 with a 2.89 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage in those outings.
“In terms of Jet and Elvis, you’ve got two good goalies who are competing, and that’s a healthy problem to have,” Blue Jackets defenseman Erik Gudbranson said. “I sit beside them in the room, and they work well together. … Coaches say it all the time: ‘Just make our job difficult.’ Perfect scenario for a team aspect.”
Whichever goaltender starts for Columbus will have to slow down a Wild offensive attack that racked up five goals in the season opener. Ryan Hartman scored two of those goals, and star Kirill Kaprizov registered three assists.
Hartman is looking to get off to a strong start after an underwhelming season in 2024-25. He finished with 11 goals in 69 games, and now he has two goals in one game to start 2025-26.
“I feel good personally, legs wise and speed wise,” Hartman said. “So I just want to keep going.”
Dmitri Voronkov will look to stay hot after scoring the Blue Jackets’ lone goal in the season opener. Kirill Marchenko registered a team-high eight shots on goal but could not find the net.
Wild fans will see a familiar face behind the Blue Jackets’ bench. Dean Evason is in his second season at the helm in Columbus after serving as Minnesota’s coach from 2020-24.
–Field Level Media
