Morning Skate: Blue Jackets vs Red Wings
7:30p ET, Joe Louis Arena
Detroit, Michigan
TV: Fox Sports Detroit
Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
Blue Jackets Blogs: The Cannon
This has been a really rough stretch of games for Detroit in the past week. The shimmering strength of special teams is all that has really kept them alive. However, the biggest problem now? Detroit hasn't scored an even-strength goal in their last 140 minutes played. That is a very big problem.
Good News? We get Justin Abdelkader back tonight. He's the glue man. He's one of those players who makes an impact at even strength, so I think this could be a big addition for them right now. The last time Detroit saw Columbus this season, they routed them 5-0. I think Detroit is well overdue for a game with 3+ goals scored. Let's make it happen, cap'n.
The Expected Lineups
Forwards
| Gustav Nyquist | Henrik Zetterberg | Justin Abdelkader |
| Tomas Tatar | Pavel Datsyuk | Darren Helm |
| Daniel Cleary | Riley Sheahan | Tomas Jurco |
| Drew Miller | Luke Glendening | Joakim Andersson |
Defensemen
| Niklas Kronwall | Jonathan Ericsson |
| Kyle Quincey | Danny DeKeyser |
| Brendan Smith | Xavier Ouellet |
Goaltenders
| Jimmy Howard (starting) |
| Petr Mrazek |
Scratches: Brian Lashoff
Injuries: Stephen Weiss (shoulder), Johan Franzen (sick, day-to-day)
Forwards
| Boone Jenner | Ryan Johansen | Nick Foligno |
| Matt Calver | Brandon Dubinskey | Cam Atkinson |
| Kerby Rychel | Jack Skille | Brian Gibbons |
| Corey Tropp | Michael Chaput | Jared Boll |
Defensemen
| Jack Johnson | David Savard |
| Jordan Leopold | Dalton Prout |
| Kevin Connauton | James Wisniewski |
Goaltenders
| Sergei Bobrovsky (starting) |
| Curtis McElhinney |
[Lines updated at 10:50, per @AnsarKhan tweets]
Opponent Outlook
Player to Fear: Nick Foligno. I pick him because he has been a strong contributor to their offense this season.
X-Factor: Sergei Bobrovsky. Bob is a fantastic goalie, and can steal a game on any given night.
Familiar Faces: No one..? James Wisniewski is from Michigan, if that counts.
Stuff to think about:
- The Red Wings are 56-25-1 all-time in the regular season against the Columbus Blue Jacket.
- Good chance we might see Danny DeKeyser make his return tonight. No news has come of Xavier Ouellet being sent down as of now.
- The Red Wings desperately need to come out with a win tonight. Also, that would mean no stupid tweets from the Blue Jackets twitter account!