Game # 17 Preview/Gamethread: Suddenly streaking Blue Jackets seek to stay hot against Red Wings

Detroit Red Wings at Columbus Blue Jackets
Saturday, November 19, 2022 - 7:00 EDT
Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH
TV: Bally’s Sports Ohio - Radio: WBNS FM
Opponent’s blog: Winging It in Motown
Detroit Red Wings, 8-5-4, 20 points, 4th Atlantic, 11th East
@
Columbus Blue Jackets, 6-9-1, 13 points, 8th Metro, 7th East

Our historically-injured Columbus Blue look to extend their unexpected point streak to five games tonight when they match up against their old division rivals, the Detroit Red Wings. It is part one of a weekend back-to-back and it appears that the Jackets will ride stick with Joonas Korpisalo in net to keep the point streak going.

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Player to Watch

Kent Johnson

After returning to the lineup after his most recent press box stint, Johnson found himself on the top line midway through the game on Thursday. It immediately paid off when he had the primary helper on Boone Jenner’s goal en route to a 6-4 victory against the Habs. Skill needs to play with skill to have success, and it’s about time Brad Larsen realized this. Kent has a more than respectable stat line with 8 points (3G, 5A) in 12 games played, while playing limited minutes. More importantly than that, he is behind only Patrik Laine — who’s played less games — in CF% for forwards. Long story short: he is deserving.

It will be fun to watch to see Kent Johnson play on the same line with his childhood hero, Johnny Gaudreau. They need to be allowed some time to gel. What have they got to lose at this point?

Jackets Notes

The Jackets are suddenly surging a bit, with points in their last 4 games, securing a total of 7 of 8 possible points. They will need to play at that clip for a while though if they want to have any chance of being competitive in the division. They have a good chance to gain some ground and make a statement with a back-to-back this weekend against a couple of decent teams in Detroit and Florida. I’d expect Korpisalo and Tarasov to split the series.

It will also be interesting to see if there are any line changes heading into the game tonight considering the first and third lines were juggled a bit with Kent Johnson replacing Emil Bemstrom on the top line, while the third line — centered by recent healthy scratch, Jack Roslovic — was stapled to the bench for much of the third period. Clearly those players are on a short leash with Coach Larsen, and will need to come out on a mission early if they want to see more ice time. It’s never beneficial for a team to roll three lines, so for the team’s sake, they need to step up.

The Other Bench

Detroit is hanging tough in a stacked Atlantic Division so far, clinging to a playoff spot with 20 points. General Manager, Steve Yzerman, was very active in free agency and through trades this offseason with some notable additions in Dominik Kubalik, David Perron, and Michigan-native Andrew Copp. They also brought in netminder, Ville Husso, after a breakout season with the Blues in 2021-22 to share the net with Parma, Ohio’s Alex Nedeljlkovic.

The offseason acquisitions pair very nicely with their growing young core of Calder Trophy winning, Moritz Seider, and runner-up Lucas Raymond. Seasons veterans like Tyler Bertuzzi and Captain Dylan Larkin round out a pretty well balanced Red Wings lineup. The Jackets have had their way with the Wings in recent years, winning 14 of the previous 20 matchups, but this is a different Detroit team than years past, and they are looking to compete in the East.

Season Series

11/19/22 Det @ CBJ
12/4/22 Det @ CBJ
1/14/23 CBJ @ Det

Stats

Projected Lines

Columbus Blue Jackets

Detroit Red Wings

Lets go Jackets!