Update (12:16 PM): And Lebda will not play, apparently. Too bad.
I guess it’ll be Aaron Johnson instead. He’s their only other healthy defenseman. - Matt
Update (12:03 PM): Well, I was half-right. Commodore’s in. Otherwise, no change. - Matt
… This is the third of six meetings between the Wings and Jackets this season. They’ve split the series so far, with the Wings winning the first 5-2 and the Jackets taking the second, 4-1.
… That was the Blue Jackets’ first win, after an 0-7-1 start.
… They’re now 13-28-5 through 46 games, solidly in last place and 21 points back of #8 Colorado.
… They did beat fellow basement-dweller Edmonton Tuesday, but they were shut out Thursday at home against the Predators. Also, they managed to beat the Coyotes in regulation last Friday before losing by a goal to San Jose Saturday. So they’re maybe not currently quite as hapless as their overall record suggests, meaning the Wings could be walking into a trap if they don’t have their eyes open.
… Former Red Wing Brett Lebda is now a Blue Jacket, after climbing up from a PTO with Springfield of the AHL. He nabbed a $700,000 deal with the Jackets to revive his NHL career, which is great for him even if the circumstances suck. The man whose career Jonathan Ericsson ruined is slated for the third pairing tonight. He’ll be wearing #23.
… The Jackets are absolutely wrecked on the health front, with a wounded list including Radek Martinek, James Wisniewski, Jeff Carter, Mark Letestu, Kristian Huselius and RJ Umberger. Of those guys, only Carter’s close to really elite, but they’re all relative key players in the Columbus lineup, so it’s difficult to envision any kind of sustained upswing until some of them get back in.
Martinek’s injury is why Lebda’s back in the NHL.
… It looks like Curtis Sanford will be in net for the Jackets.
… The Wings went to the shootout to beat the Coyotes Thursday to improve to 13-13-0 on the road. On Monday, they set a franchise record for consecutive home wins with 15 in beating Buffalo. Between those two games, they squeaked out a win over the Stars on the road for win #4 in a 5-streak they have going.
… They’re now second in the Central thanks to Chicago’s win over Florida last night (63 to 64 points). Obviously, they have a chance to pull ahead of the Hawks here, but another key part of the race is keeping their distance from the Blues, who are also playing tonight (Buffalo). They’re a point up on St. Louis, and if the Sabres can find some measure of competence, Monday’s game with the Blues could really help that lead.
… As Khan suggests, a point of emphasis for the Wings tonight and going forward will be the power play. If they can draw some penalties, they’ll have a good chance of improving their conversion percentage: the Jackets are 29th on the kill. Here’s hoping something leads to a breakthrough. There’s no reason a team with as much firepower as the Wings should be middle of the pack on the power play.
… No word yet on the lineup for tonight, but if recent rotation decisions are any indication, we could see Commodore/Mursak tonight after Kindl/Emmerton went Thursday. Babcock’s been going against his usual winning lineup preference lately:
vs. BUF: Kindl/Emmerton
@ DAL: Commodore/Mursak
@ PHO: Kindl/Emmerton
… Pavel Datsyuk’s getting some press for his quiet points campaign that has him now four points back of fellow Russian Evgeni Malkin for the League lead. He’s having a great season far—it’s a toss up between him and Jimmy for team MVP.
… The team didn’t skate yesterday for body clock reasons, which apparently means media access was curtained. Still, the lack of news on any possible Franzen injury flaring up once he took his skates off is a good sign. That should mean Patrick Eaves is the only guy out due to injury.
… Jimmy Howard should be in net.
… The Jackets are in terrible shape and are a terrible team, but the Wings need to walk into this one with eyes open and with their A-game in hand. They can’t afford a slip-up against anybody, including teams they’re not directly competing with in the standings. They’ve got to set up their matchup with the Blues Monday in the best possible way with a win today, without getting caught looking ahead to that one.
This game is just as important. They need to play that way.
… Programming note: we’re going to the Griffins game tonight, so I won’t be able to tweet this game or have a recap of it.