clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Gameday Updates: Columbus Blue Jackets at Detroit Red Wings: Line Combinations, Key Matchups

NHL: Columbus Blue Jackets at Detroit Red Wings Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Hooray!

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

Power Play Units

PP1 – Larkin, Sheahan, Vanek, Zetterberg, Green

PP2 – Tatar, Helm, Abdelkader, Smith, Mantha

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

Power Play Units

PP1 – Foligno, Gagner, Atkinson, Werenski, Wennberg

PP2 – Hartnell, Dubinsky, Jenner, Saad, Jones

Keys to the Game:

Start on Time

This has been a major bugaboo for the Red wings for years now. They come out flat, get down early and end up chasing the game from there on. They cannot allow that to happen against a team like Columbus. The Wings need to figure out a way to put an entire 60 minutes together against a quality team like the Blue Jackets if they have even the slightest chance at getting into the playoffs.

Stay Out of the Penalty Box

Columbus has the best power play in the league. The Red Wings have a decent but inconsistent penalty kill. This is not the game to give the other team cheap power plays by taking cheap or lazy penalties.

Petr Mrazek

He was the reason the Wings beat Nashville and if they win tonight he will very likely be the main reason again. This team simply is not good enough to overcome inconsistent offense, porous defense and mediocre goaltending. They need Mrazek to be Petr Mraznificent again