Game 77 Preview: Aww, Not These Guys AGAIN!
Detroit Red Wings at Columbus Blue Jackets
March 28, 2012 - 7:30pm EDT
Nationwide Arena - Columbus, Ohio
Radio - WBNS FM 97.1 - TV - NBC Sports Network
Opponents Blog: Winging It In Motown
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The Jackets have given up 13 goals in their last two games (while scoring just 5), and welcome the Red Wings in tonight for a national TV audience. What could be better than potentially getting disemboweled on national TV while the entire country sees your barn half-full of the opponents' fans? Not much, in my humble opinion.
As if Monday's 7-2 whoopin' wasn't bad enough, tonight the Wings look to get Johan Franzen back from injury. He's the club's leading goal-scorer, and has routinely put up numbers against the Jackets throughout his career with 23 points (13 G) in 42 career games.
Steve Mason looks to bounce back from two sub-par performances in which he's been pulled for Allen York. With the team in front of him going through the motions, it may not be any easier tonight.
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
(24-45-7, 55 Points; 5th division, 15th conference)
| R.J. Umberger | Derick Brassard | Cam Atkinson |
| Vinny Prospal | Mark Letestu | Rick Nash |
| Ryan Russell | Ryan Johansen | Derek Dorsett |
| Colton Gillies | Darryl Boyce | Jared Boll |
| Jack Johnson | David Savard |
| Nikita Nikitin | Brett Lebda |
| Aaron Johnson | John Moore |
| Steve Mason |
| Curtis Sanford |
Detroit Red Wings
(46-25-5, 97 Points; 2nd Division, 4th Conference)
| Valtteri Filppula | Henrik Zetterberg | Jiri Hudler |
| Johan Franzen | Pavel Datsyuk | Todd Bertuzzi |
| Justin Abdelkader | Andrew Miller | Danny Cleary |
| Tomas Holmstrom | Cory Emmerton | Jan Mursak |
| Nicklas Lidstrom | Ian White |
| Niklas Kronwall | Brad Stuart |
| Kyle Quincey | Jakub Kindl |
| Ty Conklin |
| Jimmy Howard |
Season Series
10/21/11 - Columbus 2 at Detroit 5 - RECAP
10/25/11 - Detroit 1 at Columbus 4 - RECAP
01/21/12 - Columbus 2 at Detroit 3 (SO) - RECAP
02/28/12 - Detroit 5 at Columbus 2 - RECAP
03/26/12 - Columbus 2 at Detroit 7 - RECAP
03/28/12 - Detroit at Columbus
Head to Head
Detroit Columbus 3.03 (4) GPG 2.28 (28) 2.43 (6) GAPG 3.22 (29) 16.0% (21) PP% 14.9% (27) 80.2% (22) PK% 76.2% (30) Johan Franzen, 26 G leader Rick Nash, 27 Henrik Zetterberg, 45 A leader Vinny Prospal, 35 Henrik Zetterberg, 66 Pts leader Rick Nash, 52 Todd Bertuzzi, 62 PIM leader Derek Dorsett, 210 16-20-3 Road/Home 14-21-3 3/26 vs. Columbus, W 7-2 Last Game 3/26 @ Detroit, L 7-2 3-5-2 Last 10 3-7-0