Update (2:15 PM): Bethany of Bethany’s Hockey Rants has her pre-game post up. She says it’s a must-win game for the Blue Jackets and you can bet there’s a similar attitude in the lockerroom. If the Wings don’t come out flat, we should have a great game tonight, because you know the Jackets will be playing their best. - Matt
Update (11:05 AM): Bruce MacLeod reports that Tomas Kopecky and Dallas Drake will return to the lineup tonight after one game off. Matt Ellis and Aaron Downey will be healthy scratches. Derek Meech, not Andreas Lilja (obviously that was wishful thinking), will be the other healthy scratch, as the defensive corps will return to how it was before Niklas Kronwall’s groin injury. - Matt
Tonight is the first of eight games between these two teams this season. The Wings won the series last year 5-3. They’ll face each other two more times this month and will finish with games in February, March (3), and April.
Like the Wings, Columbus kicked off the season with a win over Anaheim, a 4-0 decision that came two nights after opening night in Detroit. They lost the next night in Minnesota, 3-2, and then dropped three of their next five games. Then, beginning with a 7-4 win over Chicago on October 23rd, Columbus won their next four. That stretch ended November 1st with a 2-1 shootout loss in Anaheim, a game in which former Red Wing defenseman Mathieu Schneider scored the game winner in his first regular season game as a Duck. In their two games since then, the Jackets are 1-1-0. Tonight’s game is the second of a three-city road trip for Columbus, who lost 5-2 in Chicago on their first stop. After tonight, they’ll head to Nashville to play Sunday.
The Jackets’ 8-4-2 record is good for second in the division, two points ahead of Chicago and only four ahead of the last place team, St. Louis.
Rick Nash leads the Jackets with 16 points (10G, 6A). Nash is the only Jacket so far to score 10 or more goals. Nikolai Zherdev is second on the team with 10 points (4G, 6A). Former Red Wing Sergei Fedorov has a rather pedestrian 8 points, only 3 of which are goals. It looks like Fedorov will be on the second line, while Michael Peca was evidently demoted to the fourth line after the loss Wednesday. Jiri Novotny will take his place on the top line with Nash and Zherdev.
Pascal Leclaire has been nothing short of a revelation for the Blue Jackets this season. His 1.12 GAA, .957 save percentage, and 5 shutouts are best in the league. The Rangers’ Henrik Lundqvist has 4 shutouts, but the remainder of the top five only have 2. Needless to say, Leclaire has been playing some great hockey and will be tough to beat.
According to the Columbus Dispatch, Fredrik Modin (back) is the only Jacket injury, though the Freep also lists Alexandre Picard (knee) and Duvie Wescott (concussion). Apparently, Westcott has been sent to Syracuse on a conditioning stint, having recovered from his concussion.
There are a number of great Columbus blogs out there. Be sure to check out Army of the Ohio, End of the Bench, Neutral Zone Trap, The Jacket Times, and Bethany’s Hockey Rants for their perspective.
The Wings have won their last eight games and can tie the team record with a ninth. Their last loss came October 15th in Anaheim and their other two losses were to Chicago. They’re coming off an unsatisfying 3-2 shootout win over Nashville Wednesday night in a game that kicked off a stretch in which they’ll face Central Division team nine times in a row. Calgary is their next non-Central opponent and that game isn’t until November 27th.
Henrik Zetterberg extended his point streak to 15 games when he noticed his 13th assist Wednesday night. It was his league-leading 25th point. Pavel Datsyuk is second on the team with 16 points.
Niklas Kronwall (groin) is slated to make his return to the lineup after missing four games. Derek Meech will return to the luxury suite as a result. That is, unless Babcock has been impressed enough with Meech to keep him in and sit someone else.
Don’t expect to see Aaron Downey tonight, since he was waived yesterday. Either Dallas Drake or Tomas Kopecky will return to the lineup after a game off in order to fill out the fourth line with Matt Ellis and Jiri Hudler. There is a chance that both Drake and Kopecky will dress, in which case Ellis would be a healthy scratch. We should find out any changes sometime later today.
Dominik Hasek (hip) will be the starter tonight after missing five game.
Be sure to check out the various Wings blogs, too: Snapshots, Gorilla Crouch, Abel to Yzerman, HockeyTownTodd, Gloveside, Behind the Jersey, No Pun Intended, and Winging It In Motown.
You can bet Ken Hitchcock has his team ready to play after a lackluster performance Wednesday. You can also bet Mike Babcock has his guys ready too, as their performance wasn’t exactly top notch the other day, either. Columbus has something to prove, though, and will come out strong. The Wings will have to play a full game if they want to pull out a win. The Jackets aren’t a team to mess around with any more.
This is going to be a really good matchup given how stingy the Blue Jackets have been thus far. Go Wings!
Not feeling good about the Wings going into this game.
2 of the top 3 teams went down last night, and considering the way Detroit fell apart against the Preds…Well, they are not going to win every home game this year. Sure hope I am wrong once again.
Dave,
Yeah, it’ll be interesting to see how the Wings do against such a hot goaltender. You know how that’s been tough for them in the past.
HockeyTownTodd,
I hope you’re wrong too! I can definitely see how the game could go bad given how well the Jackets have been playing, and, as you say, how the Wings nearly lost to the Preds. Personally, I think the Wings are ready.