2:00p ET, Nationwide Arena
Columbus, OH
TV: Fox Sports Detroit
Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
Blue Jackets Blog: The Cannon
This is one of those games where the Red Wings need to just take care of business in as simple a fashion as possible. Columbus is the worst team in the Western Conference. They’ve owned Detroit so far this season. In the three games between these two clubs, the Wings only win has come in a shootout. Today the Wings need to just score early and, hopefully, get up big enough to rest some of the top guys and give the bottom six more minutes. It’s the first game of a back-to-back home-and-home series with Columbus. The Blue Jackets think they can hang with the Wings. Detroit needs to squash that mindset quickly. The last two wins have been nice, but points are still at a premium. It would be really nice to solidify a spot in the top eight and create some separation.
No changes in the lineup other than Jonas Gustavsson getting the starting nod. The forwards and defensive pairings remain the same. No word yet if Ian White has commented on his displeasure of this news this morning.
The Expected Lineup
Damien Brunner – Henrik Zetterberg – Johan Franzen
Daniel Cleary – Pavel Datsyuk – Justin Abdelkader
Drew Miller – Cory Emmerton – Jordin Tootoo
Tomas Tatar – Joakim Andersson – Patrick Eaves
*
Niklas Kronwall – Jonathan Ericsson
*
Jonas Gustavsson (starting)
Scratches: Kent Huskins and Ian White
Injuries: Valtteri Filppula (shoulder), Mikael Samuelsson (finger), Todd Bertuzzi (back), Darren Helm (back) and Carlo Colaiacovo (shoulder)
| RED WINGS | THE MATCH-UP | BLUE JACKETS |
| 12-8-4 (28 pts; 4th in West) | Record | 8-12-4 (20 pts; 15th in West) |
| 2.67 (18th in NHL) | Goals Per Game | 2.21 (27th in NHL) |
| 2.46 (7th) | Goals Against Per Game | 2.88 (18th) |
| 14.7% (25th) | Power Play % | 13.7% (27th) |
| 77.5% (24th) | Penalty Kill % | 85.4% (6th) |
| Damien Brunner (10 goals) | Goal Leader | Vinny Prospal (9 goals) |
| Henrik Zetterberg (25 points) | Points Leader | Vinny Prospal (14 points) |
- The Red Wings are 50-15-1-6 (W-L-T-OTL) all-time against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
- Columbus has won 3 straight games. Two of the three wins came in overtime and the other victory was in a shootout. In fact, their last five games have all gone to overtime. The two games before their winning streak were both overtime losses, so the BJs are on a 5 game point streak.
- The Wings are 2-2-0 on Saturdays this season. One of the two losses came to the Blue Jackets and both losses have come on the road.
- Detroit is 3-1-0 in the first game of a back-to-back.
- The last time these two teams met was February 21 at the Joe. Detroit had a 2-0 lead in the first period and lost 3-2. It was the 5th and final loss of the Red Wings season high five game losing streak. Brunner and Filppula scored for Detroit.
- Detroit is 5-3-2 in their last 10 games. Columbus is 4-4-2.
- Gustavsson is 0-1-0 in his career against the Blue Jackets. He stopped 29 shots in a 3-2 Maple Leafs loss in December 2010.
Prediction: Detroit wins 3-1. Zetterberg is your player of the game.
Let’s Go Red Wings.
