Game #55 Preview: Blue Jackets and Red Wings run out the clock

Friday, May 7, 2021 – 7:00 EST
Nationwide Arena – Columbus, Ohio
TV: Bally Sports Ohio; Radio: 97.1 FM
Opponent’s Blog: Winging It In Motown

Detroit Red Wings (18-27-9, 45 points, 8th Central)

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Columbus Blue Jackets (17-25-12, 46 points, 7th Central)

Well, we’ve finally reached the end of the season. It was a 56 game sprint, yet at times felt interminable as the Blue Jackets fell short of expectations, produced boring hockey on the ice, and provided unnecessary drama off of it. It’s fitting that the season ends against the Red Wings in a battle to finish in seventh place in the Central. Buffalo has clinched the worst record, but a sweep this weekend can drop one of these teams into the bottom three along with Anaheim.

At least the Jackets aren’t going down without a fight. They’ve earned points in their last five games.

Player to Watch

Oliver BJORKSTRAND

In a terrible year where everyone on the team struggled, the one exception was The Maestro. He produced no matter who he was paired up with and never went more than three games without recording a point. He has already passed his career high for points in a season, and did so in just 54 games. He is three away from his career high in goals and four away from his career high in assists. He could plausibly hit those marks with a couple more games like his three point effort on Wednesday against the Predators.

Jackets Notes

Matiss Kivlenieks will start one of the games in goal … Andrew Peeke will also return to the lineup at some point … Alexandre Texier remains day-to-day with a lower body injury … If the Blue Jackets lose either game, it will mark the first time in franchise history that they failed to record a three game winning streak.

The Other Bench

The Red Wings were already not an imposing opponent and are even less so now with injuries to most of their key players: Tyler Bertuzzi, Bobby Ryan, Robby Fabbri, and Dylan Larkin are all out for the remainder of the season.

Season Series

01/18/2021 CBJ 3 @ DET 2
01/19/2021 CBJ 2 @ DET 3 (OT)
03/02/2021 DET 1 @ CBJ 4
03/27/2021 CBJ 1 @ DET 3
03/28/2021 CBJ 1 @ DET 4
04/27/2021 DET 0 @ CBJ 1 (SO)
05/07/2021 DET @ CBJ
05/08/2021 DET @ CBJ

Stats

Projected Lineups