WGD: GAME 55: RED WINGS @ BLUE JACKETS

Before I get into this afternoon’s game, I want to pass on my condolences to the Ilitch family after the passing of Red Wings and Tigers’ owner Mike Ilitch last night.

As a Red Wings, Tigers and overall city of Detroit fan, Ilitch’s loss is felt with a heavy heart. Ilitch was one of the few people who still believed in Detroit and did so much good for the City and will be forever remembered as a great ambassador. R.I.P Mr. I. 

Despite the terrible loss, the Red Wings have to move on with a game tonight in Columbus. They’re coming off of a 6-3 loss in Washington and lost 3-2 in overtime to the Blues Jackets on Tuesday. Detroit played very well against Columbus and deserved a better result, but squandered the extra point on a blown call in overtime. 

Taking one of a possible four points in the last two games has the Red Wings back in the basement of the Eastern Conference. They still somehow remain in the playoff picture because they’re just six points back of the Bruins for the second Wild Card spot and seven points behind the Maple Leafs for third in the Atlantic. It’s a log-jam folks. 

The Red Wings will have a totally different lineup from Tuesday when they faced Columbus. Jonathan Ericsson is in danger of missing the rest of the season after fracturing his wrist against the Capitals, so he is expected to be replaced by Niklas Kronwall, who missed the last three games with a lower-body injury. Two-way centre Frans Nielsen is also expected to be in the lineup after missing three games with an upper-body injury. Nielsen should replace Riley Sheahan on a line with Tomas Tatar and Dylan Larkin and Tomas Jurco is expected to be the healthy scratch. 

Andreas Athanasiou was great in Washington, scoring two of their three goals and played another fantastic game. Athanasiou continues to dazzle and ranks third in the NHL in GoalsPer60 (1.69) and is tied for the team-lead with 13 goals despite playing just 39 games of 54 games. He has only picked up five assists and is shooting at a crazy 17.3%, but his speed and shot combination should enable him to maintain and higher than average shooting percentage. 

The Blue Jackets will have the same line as they did versus the Red Wings earlier in the week. Seth Jones and Zach Werenski were absolutely fantastic that evening and just reminded Red Wings fans what it’s like to have great young defensemen. Jones ended up blasting home the game-winning goal and both of them put their skating ability on display. 

Cam Atkinson scored one of the Blue Jackets’ goals and now has three points (2G / 1A) in two games against Detroit this season. The Blue Jackets really showed the Red Wings what forechecking is. This is a heavy team that may not be the most talented, but they work their tails off and are extremely difficult to play against. 

Henrik Zetterberg even thinks the Blue Jackets are tougher to play against than the Capitals. “They’re really skilled and when they can roll in transition or turnovers that they did today they’re a good team. Columbus, the last game we played I though was a tougher team to play against. They’re a lot harder and they play different. Don’t get me wrong, this is a really, really good team, but it’s a difference team than let’s say Columbus.”

Because of the early start there is no word on who will start in goal for Detroit, but you can all but guarantee that Sergei Bobrovsky will start for the Blue Jackets. Bobrovsky stopped 24 of 26 shots in the overtime win over the Red Wings on Tuesday and is now 2-0-0 with a 1.46 GAA and .949 SV% in two starts vs. Detroit this season. Even more impressive (or terrifying as a Red Wings fan) is that he is 17-6-0 with a 1.96 GAA and .934 SV% on home ice this season. 

Jimmy Howard was called-up from Grand Rapids (AHL) yesterday, but won’t skate until Monday, so expect Petr Mrazek and Jared Coreau to split this back-to-back. If it were me I would continue to roll with Mrazek, but he struggled vs. the Capitals and gave up two soft goals on Tuesday, so I bet Jeff Blashill goes with Coreau tonight. The 6-foot-6 netminder has gone 3-1-2 with a 3.24 GAA and .906 SV% on the road this season. 

Puck drop is at 5:00pm at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. You can watch the game on Fox Sports Detroit. If you can’t watch the game you can listen to it on 97.1 FM The Ticket. 

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