Game Preview: Columbus Heads North; Red Wings Look For Sweep Of Season Series Against Blue Jackets

By Ed Francis on January 14, 2023 at 7:05 am
Game Preview: Columbus Blue Jackets at Detroit Red Wings
© Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
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DET
DETROIT RED WINGS
18-15-7 (43 points; .538%)
ROSTER / SCHEDULE

7:00 P.M. – SATURDAY, JANUARY 14
LITTLE CAESAR'S ARENA
DETROIT, MI

TELEVISION:
Bally Sports Ohio
ESPN+ (Out of Market)

The mid of winter is proving to be especially long for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Thursday's loss to the Carolina Hurricanes was the second straight game (and third in the last five) in which the Blue Jackets allowed six goals. After a 6-3 loss Tuesday to the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Hurricanes allowed one fewer score on their way to a 6-2 win at Nationwide Arena on Thursday night.

Saturday, the Blue Jackets travel north for their only visit of the year to Detroit and their final game of the season against the Red Wings. A win would prevent Detroit from their first three-game winning streak against Columbus since 2012, but a loss would be the first time in franchise history the Blue Jackets go without a point against the Red Wings for an entire season.

Here's what to know when the Blue Jackets and Red Wings meet-up from the Pizza Palace: 


CBJ SEASON STATS DET
2.54 GOALS FOR 3.10
3.98 GOALS AGAINST 3.33
-1.44 GOAL DIFFERENTIAL -0.23
15.5% POWER PLAY 20.6%
75.7% PENALTY KILL 75.6%
28.8 SHOTS FOR 29.2
35.5 SHOTS AGAINST 31.4
45.4% CF% (EVEN) 46.0%
47.6% FACE-OFF % 48.3%
PROJECTIONS
ODDS OF CBJ WIN PER MONEYPUCK 33%
ODDS OF CBJ WIN PER THE 538 38%
CAESAR'S SPORTSBOOK BETTING  DET -240
WINGS: LAST THREE GAMES
SAT, 1/7 @ Maple Leafs L, 4-1
TUE, 1/10 vs. Jets W, 7-5
THU, 1/12 vs. Maple Leafs W, 4-1
WINGS: TEAM LEADERS
Goals Dylan Larking 14
Assists Dylan Larkin 23
Points Dylan Larkin 37

TALKING POINTS: WINGS

  • Detroit has soundly defeated the Blue Jackets in each of the team's first two contests, both in Columbus. The first was a 6-1 victory in November, and the Red Wings followed that up with a 4-2 victory in December. Columbus is yet to have a lead against the Red Wings this season. 
     
  • In their two games this week, Detroit has a combined 11 goals (and two victories) against the Winnipeg Jets and Toronto Maple Leafs. It's the third-highest two-game total of the season. Considering one of those was against Jets' goalie Connor Hellebuyck, that's impressive. In fact, Hellebuyck's .727 save percentage in the same was the lowest of his career in any game in which he played more than two periods. An off night, or a sign that the Red Wings offense is onto something?

CBJ STORYLINES

  • MINUTES, MINUTES, MINUTES
    Head coach Brad Larsen found it "crazy" that the ice time of Johnny Gaudreau was a topic in recent days. Whether or not that's true, the ice time that he sees is, at least for the time being, a storyline. But the puzzling number of minutes isn't limited to Gaudreau. Kirill Marchenko has nine goals in just 18 NHL games, but is still averaging just over 12 minutes per night and has eclipsed 14 minutes just once in those 18 games. It could be argued that Gaudreau and Marchenko are the two best goal-scorers on the roster right now, so the lack of playing time is a head-scratcher, "crazy" or not. 

     
  • STRANGE SATURDAY'S
    This will be Columbus' fifth Saturday game away from Nationwide Arena. None of the first four resulted in a Blue Jackets win, though they did pick up a point in an overtime loss to the New York Islanders in November.

    But over the last month, their only two wins have been on consecutive Saturday's — two weeks ago over the Chicago Blackhawks, and last Saturday against the Hurricanes. Will they make it three in a row on Saturday, or will Columbus drop to 0-4-1 on road Saturday's?
     

PROJECTED LINES
Updated: 7:05 a.m. // Subject to Change

LW C RW
13 Johnny Gaudreau 91 Kent Johnson 52 Emil Bemstrom
14 Gus Nyquist 96 Jack Roslovic 29 Patrik Laine
19 Liam Foudy 34 Cole Sillinger 86 Kirill Marchenko
50 Eric Robinson 7 Sean Kuraly 24 Mathieu Olivier
LD RD
4 Vladislav Gavrikov 2 Andrew Peeke
75 Tim Berni 44 Eric Gudbranson
15 Gavin Bayreuther 27 Adam Boqvist
Starting Goalie Backup
70 Joonas Korpisalo 90 Elvis Merzlikins
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