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5 ET, Nationwide Arena
Columbus, OH
TV: Fox Sports Detroit
Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
CBJ Blog: The Cannon
First and foremost, RIP Mr. Ilitch. He will without a doubt be missed by the Red Wings family and the entire city of Detroit. You can find more of our coverage on Mr. I’s passing here.
As far a tonight’s game goes... it’s a rematch from Tuesday when the Wings fell 3-2 in overtime to the Blue Jackets at the Joe. Both teams played again on Thursday and they both lost. Columbus fell 3-0 to Vancouver and Detroit lost 6-5 to Washington.
This game is so much more important for the Jackets. They’re headed to the playoffs this season and are in a battle for home ice in the Metro. Meanwhile, we all could pretend how important these two points are for Detroit, but let’s be real here, this team isn’t making the playoffs. In the grand scheme of things it’s another opportunity for the young players on the roster to learn, grow and earn more ice time as the season winds down. Using the rest of the year to build for the future is what’s truly important for the Red Wings.
Jonathan Ericsson is out the rest of the year with a wrist injury, so a spot in the lineup is open for someone like Ryan Sproul or Xavier Ouellet to really grab a hold of and show their value. If Niklas Kronwall is still out tonight, that means even more of a chance for the kids.
On the flip side, Jimmy Howard has been recalled from his conditioning stint in Grand Rapids. He won’t suit up this weekend though. Frans Nielsen could return from his shoulder injury. We’ll update the lineup this afternoon.
Detroit Expected Lineup
Forwards
| Gus Nyquist | Henrik Zetterberg | Anthony Mantha |
| Andreas Athanaisou | Darren Helm | Thomas Vanek |
| Tomas Tatar | Riley Sheahan | Dylan Larkin |
| Tomas Jurco | Luke Glendening | Justin Abdelkader |
Defensemen
| Danny DeKeyser | Mike Green |
| Brendan Smith | Ryan Sproul |
| Xavier Ouellet | Nick Jensen |
Goaltenders
| Petr Mrazek |
| Jared Coreau |
Columbus Expected Lineup
Forwards
| Brandon Saad | Alexander Wennberg | Nick Foligno |
| Boone Jenner | Brandon Dubinsky | Cam Atkinson |
| Matt Calvert | William Karlsson | Josh Anderson |
| Scott Hartnell | Lukas Sedlak | Sam Gagner |
Defensemen
| Zach Werenski | Seth Jones |
| Jack Johnson | Markus Nutivaara |
| Scott Harrington | Ryan Murray |
Goaltenders
| Sergei Bobrovsky |
| Joonas Korpisalo |
Game Day Prediction Contest
Would you like to predict the outcome of the game and potentially become internet famous? Well you're in luck, because here's your opportunity. Here's how it works.
Make your game predictions on the winning team, final score, and who the Wings player of the game will be. Enter the required information into the form below using the formats indicated in the questions. If you don't use those formats, your answers will be disregarded. All submissions are timestamped and will be accepted only until the official game start time. All other submissions after that will be disregarded. Only one submission per person, please. POTG will be determined by the collective of WiiM writers.
Each correct winning team prediction is worth 1 point. Each correct player of the game prediction is worth 2 points. Each correct final score prediction is worth 5 points. If you get all three correct you'll receive 15 points.
Let’s Go Red Wings.