BLUE JACKETS (0-0-0) at WILD (0-0-0), 8 PM, XCEL ENERGY CENTER

HOW TO FOLLOW

If today is like Christmas Day for fans, just imagine how it feels to be an NHL player.

Their version of opening presents on Christmas morning is getting the opportunity to put the grueling work of summer and training camp behind them and actually play games that matter.

As a result, new Blue Jackets head coach Dean Evason had to pull back the reins on practice Wednesday, following a long session Tuesday with a much shorter skate.

“Today’s practice, we’ve geared it down just because the guys are jacked,” Evason said post-practice. “They’re just going. You let them go, they’d skate out there for three hours because they’re excited. Just the fact, too, getting it going with such optimism. It’s such a wonderful time of the year because everybody feels they’re going to win the Stanley Cup. That’s our thought process moving forward, and we try to get it going tomorrow night.”

Only one team will win the Stanley Cup, but every season is still a memorable journey. Throughout the campaign, there will be inspiring victories, historic individual performances, and heartbreaking losses. It’s what you play for, which is why the Blue Jackets players are so ready to get going.

“Training camp always seems to be long, and it’s a challenge,” alternate captain Sean Kuraly said. “I always look forward to preseason being completed and training camp being completed. Now you get to the point where you get to play for fun and you get to work as a team to try and come together and win games. Guys align, come together and be successful, and you work together with guys on your team, night in and night out.

“That’s my favorite part about this whole thing, so I’m excited training camp’s over and I really look forward to our team being able to come together and jell.”

There’s also a notable connection to Minnesota for the opening game. You can’t accuse the schedule makers of manufacturing drama because the slate came out well before the Blue Jackets hired Evason, but it is a bit of a homecoming considering he was the head coach of the Wild for five seasons before being let go after the team struggled out of the gate a season ago.

Evason hates to be the story, but he did acknowledge looking forward to some aspects of the trip to face his former squad.

“I really enjoyed my time that I spent there,” he said. “I love the area and the organization, and I have a ton of really good friends still there, a lot of people that still work in the organization clearly, so I’m looking forward to seeing everybody.

“But after that, there’s a game to coach and a game to play, and hopefully we come out on the right end.”

Know The Foe: Minnesota Wild

Head coach: John Hynes (Second season)

Team stats (2023-24): Goals per game: 3.02 (21st) | Scoring defense: 3.17 (20th) | PP: 22.7 percent (10th) | PK: 74.5 percent (30th)

The narrative: After Minnesota made the playoffs 11 out of 12 previous seasons, a slow start under Evason doomed the Wild last year to a spring without postseason hockey, as the team’s 39-34-9 record left the squad 11 points shy of a berth. The hope is the second year under Hynes will lead to success, with the team building around such names as star Kirill Kaprizov and young standouts Matt Boldy, Marco Rossi and Brock Faber.

Team leaders: Kaprizov had another excellent season, as the Russian wing tied for eighth in the NHL with 46 goals and added 50 assists for 96 points, 11th in the league. Boldy’s age 22 season was an impressive one, as he placed second on the squad with 69 points (29 goals, 40 assists). Joel Eriksson Ek added a career-high 30 goals, while Faber had eight goals and 47 points on the way to placing second in the Calder Trophy voting. Rossi is also a name to know after posting 21 goals and 40 points in his first full NHL campaign.

In net, Filip Gustavsson and Marc-Andre Fleury return after splitting duties. Gustavsson started a team-high 43 contests and went 20-18-4 with a 3.06 GAA and .899 save percentage, while Fleury’s 20th NHL season featured 36 starts, a 17-15-5 record, a 2.98 GAA and .895 save percentage.

What’s new: Minnesota added forwards Yakov Trenin and Jakub Lauko in the offseason to the bottom six, while 2020 second-round pick Marat Khusnutdinov is expected to take on a bigger role at center after making his debut a season ago.

Trending: The teams split the season series a year ago, with Columbus taking a 5-4 overtime win in St. Paul on Oct. 21 on Jack Roslovic’s winner. Minnesota returned the favor with a 4-3 overtime victory Jan. 6 in Columbus that featured a hat trick by Cole Sillinger. Columbus has earned points in its last three visits to Minnesota (1-0-2) and 11 of the last 16 played (9-5-2).

Former CBJ: None

Projected CBJ lineup (subject to change)

Scratches: Dylan Gambrell, Jordan Harris, David Jiricek

Injured reserve/Injured/Non-Roster list: Boone Jenner (upper body), Dmitri Voronkov (upper body), Gavin Brindley (finger), Justin Danforth (wrist)

Roster Report: The injury bug has hit hard, leading to some line shuffling this past week. The Blue Jackets used these lines the last three days in practice, with Monahan, van Riemsdyk, Labanc and Aston-Reese set to make their debuts in union blue.

The Numbers Game

The Blue Jackets have gone 9-12-2 in season-opening games and 11-11-1 in their first road contest of the campaign. … Werenski is coming off one of the best seasons in CBJ history, setting a franchise record for assists for a defenseman (46) and tying the mark for most points (57) in a season. … Players classified as rookies by the NHL scored 34 goals for the Blue Jackets a season ago, tied with Minnesota for the most in the league. … New acquisition James van Riemsdyk has scored double digits in goals in all 15 of his NHL seasons, while fellow newbie Sean Monahan has eight 20-goal campaigns. … Jack Johnson’s 1,187 NHL games are 11th among active players, and his 445 games played for Columbus from 2012-18 are fifth all-time among CBJ defensemen. … Kirill Marchenko is one of two players in team history to start his NHL career with consecutive 20-goal seasons. … Erik Gudbranson is one assist away from 100 in his career.

This Day in CBJ History

Oct. 10, 2002: The Blue Jackets win their season and home openers for the first time in club history, beating the Chicago Blackhawks 2-1 at Nationwide Arena. Rick Nash becomes the eighth first overall NHL draft pick, and first since Eric Lindros in 1991, to score a goal in his first NHL game.

Oct. 10, 2007: Pascal Leclaire posts his second shutout in the first three games, making 32 saves in a 3-0 win at Phoenix. Manny Malhotra, Jason Chimera and Jared Boll score the three CBJ goals.

Oct. 10, 2009: The Blue Jackets improve to 3-1-0 on the season with a 2-0 win at Phoenix. Mathieu Garon makes 36 saves in the win while the Blue Jackets get tallies from Rick Nash and R.J. Umberger. Garon becomes the first CBJ goaltender to post a shutout in his debut with the team.

Oct. 10, 2017: Sonny Milano’s overtime goal at 4:29 of the extra frame gives the Blue Jackets a 2-1 win at Carolina.