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7:30p ET, Joe Louis Arena
Detroit, MI
TV: FSD
Radio: 97.1 FM The Ticket // 1270 AM CBS Sports Radio
Blue Jackets Blog: The Cannon
Stop me if you heard this one before. The Red Wings have won a couple games in a row and are on the precipice of potentially clawing back into the playoff picture but have to face one of the top teams in the league in order to do so. This time around the Red Wings play host to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Blue Jackets come in after losing their previous game 5-1 to New Jersey and have gone just 4-5-1 in their last ten games. That said they are still tied for second in the Metropolitan Division with Pittsburgh and sporting one of the better offenses in the league, thanks in part to having the best power play in the NHL.
The Red Wings meanwhile are sitting on two straight wins, their most recent being a 1-0 victory over Nashville that saw the potential return to form of Petr Mrazek. It also saw the return of Tomas Jurco and Brendan Smith to the lineup in place of the injured Frans Nielsen and Niklas Kronwall. On Monday, the Red Wings placed Nielsen on IR and activated Steve Ott. While it is probably very likely that Ott will replace Jurco in the lineup I am not making that change until it is official in hopes that they do not actually do it. Either way this is going to be a difficult game for the Red Wings but if they somehow still have any hopes of extending the playoff streak they have got to start getting points in bunches.
Red Wings Lineup
Forwards
| Gustav Nyquist | Henrik Zetterberg | Anthony Mantha |
| Tomas Tatar | Riley Sheahan | Dylan Larkin |
| Andreas Athanasiou | Darren Helm | Thomas Vanek |
| Tomas Jurco | Luke Glendening | Justin Abdelkader |
Defensemen
| Dan DeKeyser | Mike Green |
| Jonathan Ericsson | Xavier Ouellet |
| Brendan Smith | Nick Jensen |
Goaltenders
| Petr Mrazek |
| Jared Coreau |
Scratches: Ryan Sproul, Steve Ott, Jimmy Howard (In Grand Rapids)
Injuries: Niklas Kronwall, Frans Nielsen, Johan Franzen (LTIR), Joe Vitale (LTIR)
Blue Jackets Lineup
Forwards
| Brandon Saad | Alexander Wennberg | Nick Foligno |
| Boone Jenner | Brandon Dubinsky | Cam Atkinson |
| Matt Calvert | William Karlsson | Markus Hannikainen |
| Scott Hartnell | Lukas Sedlak | Sam Gagner |
Defensemen
| Zach Werenski | Seth Jones |
| Ryan Murray | Jack Johnson |
| Scott Harrington | Markus Nutivaara |
Goaltenders
| Sergei Bobrovsky |
| Joonas Korpisalo |
Scratches/Injuries: David Clarkson, David Savard, Josh Anderson
The Matchup
| Red Wings | Stat | Blue Jackets |
| 22-21-9 (53 pts, 6th in Atlantic) | Record | 33-13-5 (71 pts, 2nd in Metro) |
| 2.42 (25th in NHL) | Goals Per Game | 3.29 (4th in NHL) |
| 2.92 (t23rd) | Goals Against Per Game | 2.47 (7th) |
| 10.9 (30th) | Power Play % | 24.3 (1st) |
| 81.2 (17th) | Penalty Kill % | 82.3 (13th) |
| 28.5 (25th) | Shots For Per Game | 30.3 (11th) |
| 30.7 (19th) | Shots Against Per Game | 30.2 (15th) |
| 52.1 (5th) | Faceoff % | 47.6 (t26th) |
| Vanek/Tatar/Mantha/Larkin (12) | Goals Leader | Cam Atkinson (25) |
| Henrik Zetterberg (38) | Points Leader | Cam Atkinson (47) |
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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.