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| DETROIT RED WINGS |
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18-15-7 (43 points; .538%) ROSTER / SCHEDULE |
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7:00 P.M. – SATURDAY, JANUARY 14 LITTLE CAESAR'S ARENA DETROIT, MI |
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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
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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
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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.
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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 |
