On the Wings

Update (3:15 PM): Bruce MacLeod confirms that both Tomas Kopecy and Matt Ellis will sit out tonight. Ellis, apparently, did not make the trip to Columbus, while Kopecky is with the team, but not skating. According to Mike Babcock, both may be available for the game against Calgary on Tuesday night.

The fourth line will consist of Aaron Downey and Dallas Drake flanking Jiri Hudler, who MacLeod says, “will play center for the first time since coming to North America.” I don’t know about that. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure Jiri has played center before, both in the AHL and in the NHL. - Matt

Tonight is the third of eight games between these two teams this season. The Wings won the first two meetings, 4-1 on the 9th and 5-4 in a shootout on the 18th. The remaining games are in February, March, and April.

November has been a bit of a rough month for the Blue Jackets, who have posted a 3-5-3 record thus far. Last night in Minnesota, they snapped a 0-2-1 streak with a 4-0 shutout win. They are 0-1-1 on the second night of a back-to-back this season.

Rick Nash leads the team with 16 goals and 26 points, while Nikolai Zherdev leads in assists with 11.

Michael Peca, who had missed six games with a groin injury, returned last night and finished with a goal and an assist.

Despite having played last night because of Fredrik Norrena’s sudden contraction of the stomach flu, it looks as though Pascal Leclaire will be in net again tonight.

For the Columbus perspective, head to Better on Ice, The Jacket Times, Army of the Ohio, End of the Bench, Neutral Zone Trap, The Jacket Times, and Bethany’s Hockey Rants.

The Wings are 5-4-0 in November, which has been a bit of a rough month for them as well. Their win over Columbus on the 18th halted a three-game skid and since then, they’re 1-1-0. They’re coming off a 3-2 loss in Nashville on Thanksgiving, a game that came a day after beating St. Louis at home. They are 2-0-0 in the game after a back-to-back series this season.

Henrik Zetterberg leads the team with 16 goals and 32 points. Pavel Datsyuk leads in assists with 17.

Matt Ellis (headache) and Tomas Kopecky (shoulder) are questionable for tonight, which should mean Aaron Downey and Dallas Drake will be in the lineup.

Mike Babcock announced after the Nashville game that Chris Osgood would be the starter tonight. It looks like, for now at least, there’s a goalie rotation.

For more of the Detroit perspective, check out Snapshots, Gorilla Crouch, Abel to Yzerman, HockeyTownTodd, Gloveside, Behind the Jersey, No Pun Intended, and Winging It In Motown.

The Jackets are coming off a strong performance last night in Minnesota and will be looking to upstage the Wings tonight as well. Hopefully the Wings will be able to catch Columbus tired, much like the Predators caught them Thursday night. Still, the Jackets have already lost to Detroit twice this season and obviously aren’t interested in losing again.

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to watch the game tonight, so I won’t have a recap or anything tomorrow.