Game Preview #30 - A Tough Road Test For #7
The Jackets are currently riding a six-game winning streak. They go on the road to face a Red Wings team that handed them one of their worst losses this season. Can they rectify that tonight?
Columbus Blue Jackets at Detroit Red Wings
December 16, 2014 - 7:30 pm EST
Joe Louis Arena - Columbus, Ohio
Radio - WBNS 97.1 - TV - Fox Sports Ohio
Opponent's Blog: Winging It In Motown
Ugh. These guys again. Last time we saw the Wings, it was a colossal shit fest the likes of which we really haven't seen this season. It sent the Jackets into another tailspin of 0-5-1, which has only now been fixed with a six game winning streak. So, there's that.
The Red Wings have been very, very good at home, though they've struggled a bit of late having lost three straight (0-1-2). That said, they simply dominated the Jackets last time out.
For the Jackets, Fedor Tyutin looks like he'll be back, skating with Dalton Prout. By bringing Tyutin off of IR, Kerby Rychel has been sent down to Springfield to make room. With the addition of Jeremy Morin as well, this is not surprising. To that end, it looks like Morin will be making his CBJ debut tonight, as well. The guess seems to be that Tyutin draws in with Dalton Prout, and Kevin Connauton sits in favor or Jordan Leopold.
All of this shuffling aside, the Jackets have shown that they can play with the big boys of the East over this six game stretch, and that will need to continue tonight. They need to stay out of the penalty box, even with the marked improvement of late on the penalty kill. They need to keep Sergei Bobrovsky as clean as possible. They need to continue to win at even strength, as while their Power Play has been good, the Wings' PK has been out of this world this season. The Jackets will have to win this game at even strength.
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
(12-15-2, 26 Points; 7th division, 15th conference)
| Boone Jenner | Ryan Johansen | Jack Skille |
| Jeremy Morin | Nick Foligno | Brian Gibbons |
| Matt Calvert | Brandon Dubinsky | Cam Atkinson |
| Corey Tropp | Michael Chaput | Jared Boll |
| Fedor Tyutin | Dalton Prout |
| Jack Johnson | David Savard |
| Jordan Leopold | James Wisniewski |
| Sergei Bobrovsky |
| Curtis McElhinney |
Detroit Red Wings
(17-7-7, 41 Points; 1st Division, 3rd Conference)
| Gustav Nyquist | Henrik Zetterberg | Justin Abdelkader |
| Tomas Tatar | Pavel Datsyuk | Darren Helm |
| Johan Franzen | Riley Sheahan | Tomas Jurco |
| Drew Miller | Luke Glendening | Joakim Andersson |
| Niklas Kronwall | Jonathan Ericsson |
| Kyle Quincey | Brendan Smith |
| Jakub Kindl | Xavier Ouellet |
| Jimmy Howard |
| Petr Mrazek |
Season Series
11/18/14 - Detroit 5 at Columbus 0
12/16/14 - Columbus at Detroit
03/12/15 - Columbus at Detroit
Head to Head Stats
| Detroit | Columbus | |
| 2.94 (7) | GPG | 2.38 (23) |
| 2.39 (7) | GAPG | 3.24 (28) |
| 22.5% (8) | PP% | 23.2% (6) |
| 87.8% (2) | PK% | 77.6% (24) |
| Gustav Nyquist, 14 | G leader | Nick Foligno, 14 |
| Henrik Zetterberg, 21 | A leader | Ryan Johansen, 18 |
| Henrik Zetterberg, 26 | Pts leader | Nick Foligno / Ryan Johansen, 27 |
| Kyle Quincey, 33 | PIM leader | Jared Boll, 44 |
| 11-3-4 | Home/Road | 6-7-1 |
| 6-2-2 | Last 10 | 6-4-0 |
| 12/13 @ Toronto, L 4-1 | Last Game | 12/13 vs. Pittsburgh, W 4-3 (SO) |