Game Preview #25 - Striving for Relevance

Detroit Red Wings at Columbus Blue Jackets

March 9, 2013 - 2:00pm EST
Nationwide Arena - Columbus, Ohio
Radio - WBNS 97.1 - TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponents Blog: Winging It In Motown
SBNation Game Page
Tickets

Don't look now, but the Jackets have won three in a row, have points in five straight games, and have a 4-2-2 record in their last eight games. Not to be outdone, the Red Wings are 5-1-1 since the last time these two teams played. Some of the starch is out of this game, as Derek Dorsett is out for the rest of the season. So, we'll have to see if anyone steps into his vacuum if Jordin Tootoo elects to display his relevance.

And that's the play on words in the title. The Jackets are on a bit of a roll, and a win today would clinch the season series against Detroit. So, does all of that mean the Jackets are getting that much closer to relevance? One would hope. This home-and-home series today and tomorrow marks the end of an era. With realignment coming, these are the final two "division" games between these two. It would be nice for Columbus to close the book on a high note.

The Wings have been playing well since these teams last met; it's almost as if losing to the Jackets in the final 30 seconds lit a fire under their collective behinds. At any rate, the Jackets will have their hands full.

But, of late, Columbus has been up to the task. They've been wearing teams down, and getting good goaltending from Sergei Bobrovsky in the past three games. If they keep it all up, there's no reason they can't hang with the Wings and possibly win yet again.

Nick Drazenovic has been recalled on an emergency basis today.

Projected Lineups

Columbus Blue Jackets
(8-12-4, 20 Points; 5th division, 15th conference)

R.J. Umberger	Ryan Johansen	Nick Foligno
Matt Calvert	Artem Anisimov	Cam Atkinson
Vinny Prospal	Mark Letestu	Derick Brassard
Colton Gillies	Derek MacKenzie	Jared Boll

Fedor Tyutin	Jack Johnson
Tim Erixon	Adrian Aucoin
Nikita Nikitin	Dalton Prout

Sergei Bobrovsky

Steve Mason

Detroit Red Wings
(12-8-4, 28 Points; 2nd Division, 4th Conference)

Johan Franzen	Henrik Zetterberg	Damien Brunner
Justin Abdelkader	Pavel Datsyuk	Daniel Cleary
Tomas Tatar	Joakim Andersson	Patrick Eaves
Drew Miller	Cory Emmerton	Jordin Tootoo

Niklas Kronwall	Jonathan Ericsson
Kyle Quincey	Brendan Smith
Brian Lashoff	Jakub Kindl

Jimmy Howard

Jonas Gustavsson

Season Series

01/21/13 - Detroit 4 at Columbus 3 - SO
02/02/13 - Detroit 2 at Columbus 4
02/21/13 - Columbus 3 at Detroit 2
03/09/13 - Detroit at Columbus
03/10/13 - Columbus at Detroit

Head to Head

Detroit		Columbus
2.67 (18)	GPG	2.21 (27)
2.46 (7)	GAPG	2.88 (19)
14.7% (25)	PP%	13.7% (28)
77.5% (25)	PK%	85.4% (6)
Damien Brunner, 10	G leader	Vinny Prospal, 9
Henrik Zetterberg, 20	A leader	Fedor Tyutin, 12
Henrik Zetterberg, 26	Pts leader	Vinny Prospal, 14
Jordin Tootoo, 58	PIM leader	Jared Boll, 74
3-4-1	Road/Home	6-4-3
3/7 vs Edmonton, W 3-0	Last Game	3/7 vs Vancouver, W 2-1 (OT)
5-3-2	Last 10	4-4-2

Game Notes

• Who's Streaking Now? - With the Blackhawks' regulation loss last night, the Jackets are now second in the league in consecutive games with a point (5). So, yeah, there's that.
• Special Teams - The Jackets have surged to sixth in the league on the penalty kill, thanks in large part to their eight-game streak of not allowing a PP goal. Not coincidentally, they are 4-2-2 in those eight games. Imagine if the Jackets could generate a Power Play as effective as their PK has been. The Wings haven't been their usual selves on special teams this season.
• No Dorse - The Jackets lose some grit, for sure, but they also lose one of their players who will go to bat for a teammate at any time against anyone. And, Dorse is also one of the Jackets' better PKers. His loss will be felt, for sure.

A win today gives the Jackets a 3-0-1 record against Detroit with one more game to play. I mean, just... think about that, man.