Game Preview #26 - Hey, You Guys Look Familiar!

Columbus Blue Jackets at Detroit Red Wings

March 10, 2013 - 5:00pm EDT
Joe Louis Arena - Detroit, Michigan
Radio - WBNS 97.1 - TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponents Blog: Winging It In Motown
SBNation Game Page

So, yesterday was, how you say, very nice? High five.

The Jackets don't get much chance to bask in the proverbial afterglow, as they turn around and play these same (though presumably more pissed off) Red Wings yet again. Today's game marks the end of the season series, and Columbus has already clinched the season series for the first time since the Cretaceous Period. They're a slight Cam Atkinson double-tap and a gonad-scrunching Damien Brunner shootout goal away from being 4-0-0 against these guys.

Columbus got it done yesterday without Artem Anisimov in the lineup (Nick Drazenovic got the emergency call up; expect the same today), and they got it done by being relentless with their pressure and capitalizing when turnovers came. They got some awesome goaltending from Sergei Bobrovsky, who has allowed just two goals in his last 230:03 played.

Yeah, about that whole "waiting for one of the goaltenders to step up" bidness, then?

The Wings will look to find themselves at home. They were left without a lot of answers to a lot of questions after the complete flop against the Jackets yesterday. I expect them to come out with some seriously chapped asses from Mike Babcock, so the Jackets will have to be ready.

Also...

[grabs sarcasm hat and slams it on head]

The Jackets are now just four points out of the eighth playoff spot.

[removes sarcasm hat and gently replaces it on the mantle]

In all seriousness: as much as we all want that draft pick to add the blue-chip player to be the master bedroom on top of the house foundation these guys are building, how can you NOT ENJOY THE @#&* OUT OF THIS RUN WE'RE ON??

Projected Lineups

Columbus Blue Jackets
(9-12-4, 22 Points; 5th division, 14th conference WE'RE NOT LAST!)

R.J. Umberger	Ryan Johansen	Nick Foligno
Matt Calvert	Nick Drazenovic	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
(12-9-4, 28 Points; 3rd Division, 6th 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 0 at Columbus 3
03/10/13 - Columbus at Detroit

Head to Head

Detroit		Columbus
2.56 (18)	GPG	2.24 (26)
2.48 (9)	GAPG	2.76 (14)
14.3% (26)	PP%	13.9% (28)
77.9% (24)	PK%	85.9% (5)
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, 60	PIM leader	Jared Boll, 74
9-4-2	Home/Road	2-8-1
3/9 @ Columbus, L 3-0	Last Game	3/9 vs Detroit, W 3-0
5-3-2	Last 10	5-3-2

Game Notes

• Season Series - A win this evening would mean the Jackets would finish the season with no regulation losses against the Red Wings. dfhdsfjhadjk;ghadsjghgjhds;fljhdsjfghd;sgjhdsjkfdsfsd Sorry, I blacked out for a second.
• This PK is a Bad Mother SHUT YO MOUTH - Seriously, we all were there for the 30th ranked PK last year, right? That happened? I didn't imagine it? Who are these guys? They not only look calm and collected on the PK, but they wait for the exact right moment to make plays for the puck and they make them. Obviously, good goaltending helps the PK, and Bob is hot right now. But wow, man. The Jackets haven't given up a PPG to their opponents since February 18th. Nine straight games, 22 straight kills. And they've done this without Brandon Dubinsky, who is head-and-shoulders their best PKing forward.
• Mic'd Up - I found the whole "Keith Acton Is Wearing a Mic!" thing a bit trite (seriously, is there a more completely even keel guy during a hockey game than that?), but it got me thinking: probably one of the best moves (two moves, really) this past off-season was hiring Acton and Craig Hartsburg. No disrespect intended to Scott Arniel's coaching staff, but this coaching staff is light-years better. They have experience. They have saavy. They clearly know how to get their guys going, and to get them to buy in. It gives me hope for the future.

I know it's greedy of me to ask, but seriously: 4-0-1 against the Wings. Let's get it done, boys!