- Oct 16, 2026
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SportsMafia Wire graphic. Team logos and player headshots via ESPN.
The Minnesota Wild will face the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday in the clubs' first matchup of the season. Both teams enter with lengthy injury lists that could shape the outcome.
Minnesota carries a 5-2-1 record and has won all three home contests. The Wild have also prevailed in four of six games when converting at least once on the power play. However, they will be without goaltender Filip Gustavsson (hip), defensemen Jared Spurgeon (upper body), Brock Faber (skull) and Olli Maatta (upper body), forwards Nick Foligno (upper body), Nico Sturm (upper body) and Marcus Foligno (lower body), while star Kirill Kaprizov is day to day with an undisclosed issue.
Columbus arrives at 3-3 after defeating the Rangers 1-0 in overtime. The Blue Jackets are winless in their lone road game and have dropped two of three when opponents spend less time in the penalty box. They will miss defensemen Dante Fabbro (upper body) and Ivan Provorov (lower body), forwards Isac Lundestrom (achilles) and Caleb MacDonald (lower body).
The Metropolitan Division visitors hope to improve their away record against a Central Division club leaning on home-ice advantage.
Source: ESPN - Sun Oct 18, 4:12 AM ET
Written by the SportsMafia Wire desk in our own words from the original reporting (AI-assisted, checked against the source).