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

The Detroit Red Wings have a little extra to play for tonight when they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets at Ohio Stadium.

There’s the small factor of 90,000 fans in the stands, the majority if them Blue Jackets fans. Will they be as rabid as the college football fans who hunker down and cheer until when these states meet on the last day of the regular season?

But there’s also the Eastern Conference race, which tightened up after the Blue Jackets won in Detroit 5-2 on Thursday. Coach Todd McLellan wasn’t thrilled with  his team’s effort and singled out captain Dylan Larkin for some blame.

To his credit, Larkin didn’t disagree. There were no alibis or excuses, just an acknowledgement that he and his teammates have to be better.

But you can also say this: The Red Wings have been the best team in the NHL since McLellan took over, and they were overdue for a stinker of a game.

Fortunately, they have a chance to redeem themselves right away. That’s the beauty of pro sports. You usually don’t have that much time to stew over a loss, and a win tonight would put Thursday’s loss into the hamper just that much faster. In the meantime, the Wings and Jackets are playing a game that should be both entertaining and meaningful tonight.

In 1950, Michigan and Ohio State played football in an absolute blizzard at Ohio Stadium. That won’t happen tonight, but there’s a little part of being a fan that wishes that could be true.

Maybe next time.

The temperature at game-time is expected to be 28, with winds up to 16 mph.

“(Friday at practice) I noticed, you’re skating into the wind, and then the other way, you’re skating with the wind of your back,” Detroit’s Patrick Kane said. “So I think that could be something that maybe comes into play where maybe they might switch the teams and switch the sides with 10 minutes left in a period or something…And other than that, just know you’re playing hockey
on an ice rink.

The Matchup

Who: Red Wings vs. Blue Jackets

Where: Ohio Stadium. Columbus, Ohio

When: 6 p.m.

TV/Radio: ESPN/97.1 FM

Detroit Projected Lines

Kasper – Larkin – Raymond

DeBrincat – Compher– Kane

Soderblom – Veleno – Tarasenko

Fischer– Motte – Berggren

Defensive Pairings

Chiarot – Seider

Edvinsson –Johansson

Gustafsson – Holl

Goalies

Talbot- Lyon

Columbus Projected Lines

Voronkov – Fantilli – Marchenko

Van Riemsdyk – Jenner –  Johnson

Aston-Reese – Danforth – Oliver

Pyythia – Kuraly – Labate

Defensive Pairings

Werenski – Fabbro

Mateychuk – Provorov

Christiansen – Severson

Goalies

Merzlikins – Tarasov