(NBCSN)
For the first time this season, the Columbus Blue Jackets battle the Detroit Red Wings, and face them three times in four weeks. For Columbus, this is the second of a back-to-back matchup for them. The Red Wings last played Sunday on NBCSN, and lost to the New York Rangers in overtime (1-0).
Looking at the stats, this is how the Wings are doing. They hold the first wild card spot, but have also been struggling a lot lately, and need to get on a hot streak to keep their current streak of postseason appearances alive. As for Columbus, they have been getting better, but are still near the bottom of the standings.
According to TSN and Twitter, the Detroit Red Wings will have their top defenseman back in the lineup. Niklas Knrowall is a bone crushing defenseman on the Wings' backend.
According to TSN analyst Bob McKenzie, the Red Wings have placed the defenseman Jakub Kindl on waivers for purpose of player assignment. If he clears, he will report to the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League.
Since it is the first time these teams are playing this season, I will go though the offseason changes the Red Wings had. This summer, they lost head coach Mike Babcock to the Toronto Maple Leafs, and got back a 2017 3rd round draft pick as a result. As a result, they promoted AHL coach Jeff Blashill to the NHL. At the loss of winger Kevin Porter; defenseman Marek Zidlicky; and netminder Joonas Gustavsson; the Wings signed defenseman Mike Green; center Brad Richards; and winger Eric Tangradi.
In terms of lineups tonight, Jared Boll suffered an injury and Curtis McElhinney is in between the pipes. For Detroit, Petr Mrazek is between the pipes.
Projected Lineups
Columbus Blue Jackets
Scott Hartnell – Alexander Wennberg – Brandon Saad
Boone Jenner – Brandon Dubinsky – Cam Atkinson
Kerby Rychel – William Karlsson – Nick Foligno
Matt Calvert – Gregory Campbell – Rene Bourque
Ryan Murray – Seth Jones
Jack Johnson – Davis Savard
Fedor Tyutin – Dalton Prout
Curtis McElhinney
Joonas Korpisalo
Injured: Sergei Bobrovsky (groin), David Clarkson (upper body), Jared Boll (foot),
Scratched: Justin Falk, Cody Goloubef
Detroit Red Wings
Henrik Zetterberg-Pavel Datsyuk-Gustav Nyquist
Tomas Tatar-Dylan Larkin-Justin Abdelkader
Darren Helm-Luke Glendening-Teemu Pulkkinen
Riley Sheean-Andres Athanasiou-Brad Richards
Danny DeKeyser-Kyle Quinceh
Niklas Knrowall-Alexy Marchenko
Brendan Smith-Mike Green
Petr Mrazek
Jimmy Howard
Injured: Drew Miller (knee), Jonathan Ericsson (LBI), Johan Franzen (concussion),
Scratched: Tomas Jurco, Xaiver Oullet
Players to Watch
Columbus: Fedor Tyutin. With this potentially being one of his final games in a Columbus uniform, and playing in front of a team reportedly pursuing him, the Russian defenseman needs to step up to show his worth.
Detroit: Dylan Larkin. It is an oblivious to most of the league, but since it is the first time Columbus fans get to notice him, he is someone to always watch.
Enjoy the games tonight. More to come…
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