One team will win and one streak will continue. One team will lose and one streak one will end. Although it might seem like the pressure is mounting, the attention has brought an element of fun for players and coaches on the two teams.
"Athletes look to hang their hat on something," Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said Friday. "And in a grind of a season, certainly not anything close to playoffs, it's a good game to be involved in.
"I'm glad we have the opportunity."
Tortorella and the Blue Jackets (25-5-4) extended their road winning streak to seven games with a 5-3 win at the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. Their 14-game streak is tied for the third-longest in NHL history (1929-30 Boston Bruins; 2009-10 Washington Capitals). The 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins hold the record with 17 straight wins.
Minnesota (23-8-4) has won eight straight at Xcel Energy Center after a 6-4 victory against the New York Islanders on Thursday.
But players and coaches in each locker room are quick to chalk it up as just another game.
"It's not the Super Bowl, it's not the Stanley Cup, it's game 36," Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said. "It's got a good little storyline. That's all it is."
It's a storyline few could have expected.
After starting the season 0-2-0, Columbus is first in the League standings with 54 points, one point ahead of the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins. Minnesota was on a three-game losing streak at the end of November before starting its streak, which has moved it to within one point of the Chicago Blackhawks for first place in the Western Conference entering play Friday.
"If you look at the schedule in the beginning of the season, nobody thought Columbus and Minnesota was going to be that exciting of a game," Wild forward Nino Niederreiter said. "But at the end of the day, it is how it is."
Each team has been propelled by a potent offense. Columbus leads the NHL with 3.44 goals per game; Minnesota is fourth, first in the Western Conference, with 3.14. The defenses have been stingy; the Wild are allowing an NHL-low 2.00 goals per game, and the Blue Jackets are second with 2.06. The goaltenders, Sergei Bobrovsky for Columbus and Devan Dubnyk for Minnesota, are leading candidates for the Vezina Trophy.
"I think both teams know how to play defense, both teams have great goaltending," Boudreau said. "It should be a good battle. I'm sure both teams are going to put their best foot forward."
Not to mention a little fun in the mix.
"It's fun for the League, it's fun for the fans, it's fun for us too," Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno said. "Just to go up against a really good team, that's the opportunity we have here, to try and get a win against a really good team. We're excited about that."
