Red Wings at Blue Jackets: Notes, Lines, Goalies, How to Watch

After winning two in a row at home the Detroit Red Wings take their show on the road tonight for the first of two away from Little Caesars Arena.

Tonight, it’s a visit to the Columbus Blue Jackets, one of the 13 teams ahead of the Wings in the Eastern Conference standings.  The Jackets, who have been the equivalent of everyone’s favorite Homecoming opponent in their NHL tenure, are four points ahead of the Wings.

That makes tonight’s game another key matchup for a Red Wings team still harboring playoff dreams, no matter how far-fetched they may be.

Meanwhile, there’s talk of a possible deal with the Buffalo Sabres, although that seems unlikely.

The coaching change has created opportunity for the likes of Jonatan Berggren, who’ll be getting more minutes under new coach Todd  McLellan, depending on his production, of course.

The prevailing story in the first week of McLellan’s tenure as coach is that the Wings are looser, less mechanical and having fun.

These two road games, especially Saturday’s contest at Winnipeg, will test that storyline.

In the meantime consider this: The Red Wings, who share Little Caesars Arena as a home veuue with the Detroit Pistons, have 15 wins and 18 losses.

So do the Pistons.

The Matchup

Who: Red Wings at Blue Jackets

Where: Nationwide Arena, Columbus

When: 7p.m.

TV/Radio: FanDuel/97.1 FM

Detroit Lines

Veleno – Larkin – Raymond

DeBrincat – Copp – Kane

Berggren – Compher – Tarasenko

Rasmussen – Kasper – Motte/Fischer

Defensive Pairings

Chiarot – Seider

Edvinsson – Petry

Gustafsson – Holl/Johansson

Goalies

Lyon – Talbot

Columbus Linea

Voronkov – Monahan – Marchenko

Van Riemsdyk – Fantilli – Aston-Reese

K. Johnson – Sillinger – Olivier

Pyyhtia – Kuraly – J. Johnson

Defensive Pairings

Werenski – Fabbro

Mateychuk – Provorov

Christiansen – Severson

Goalies

Merzlikins – Tarasov