Time: 7:00 PM EST

Place: Nationwide Arena

TV: BSOH,BSDET+

Radio: 97.1 FM The Ticket/1270 AM

Blue Jackets Blog: Jackets Cannon

Detroit is now squarely in the home stretch of its season, and they are doing it without some of their best players. We’ve seen uneven results. Two games ago, they blew the doors of the Stars, with newly acquired Jakub Vrana scoring four goals. Last game, they gave up 51 shots to the same team while taking few of their own, somehow keeping the game close, but losing in overtime.

Which team will we get tonight? On paper, Detroit should match up well with the Jackets, even missing players like Dylan Larkin and Robby Fabbri. Columbus has been in free fall lately, and this should be a winnable game.

While I completely understand how some people would rather us not win games because it will push our draft slot back and decrease our lottery odds, it’s not something that we can control. The team is going to play their best and try to win every game. That being said, I often put emotional stock in things that I cannot control, so please don’t read that first part as me being critical.

From practice information relayed from the team’s beat writers, it looks like Joe Veleno may be playing soon, possibly even tonight. That would certainly be something for fans to be excited about.