The Minnesota Wild and Columbus Blue Jackets hit the ice at Xcel Energy Center for a season opener on Thursday, October 10 at 8:00 PM ET on ESPN+.

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As teams hit the ice for the beginning of the NHL season, here is who we predict will take home the victory in Thursday's action.

Our computer projections model for this contest expects a final result of Wild 4, Blue Jackets 2.

The Wild (39-33-10 overall) had a 7-10-17 record last season in contests that went to overtime.
In the 26 games Minnesota played that were decided by one goal, it had a 9-10-7 record (good for 25 points).
In the 10 games last season the Wild recorded only one goal, they went 1-6-3 (five points).
Minnesota took 11 points from the 20 games last season when it scored exactly two goals (4-13-3 record).
The Wild were 34-10-4 when they scored more than two goals (to record 72 points).
In the 30 games when Minnesota scored a lone power-play goal, it had a 17-11-2 record (36 points).
In the 45 games last season when it outshot its opponent, Minnesota was 25-15-5 (55 points).
The Wild were outshot by their opponent in 37 games, going 14-18-5 to record 33 points.

The Blue Jackets had a 6-12-18 record in overtime games last season, and a 27-43-12 overall record.
In the 24 games Columbus played that were decided by one goal, it picked up 22 points.
Last season the Blue Jackets registered only one goal in 13 games, and they picked up two points (1-12-0).
Columbus picked up eight points (2-15-4 record) last season when scoring two goals .
The Blue Jackets picked up 56 points in their 42 games when they scored three or more goals.
Last season Columbus recorded a lone power-play goal in 26 games, posting a record of 12-7-7.
When outshooting its opponent last season, Columbus was 11-11-4 (26 points).
The Blue Jackets were outshot by their opponents 52 times last season, and took 39 points from those games.

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