Red Wings at Blue Jackets Preview

The Columbus Blue Jackets will be back on the ice again Saturday night, one day after playing poorly in a 5-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings. Detroit will once again be the opponent for this game, and the loser of this one will take over last place in the Central Division.

Detroit has gone just 2-4 in their last six games, and they were expected to be the worst team in the Central Division this season. The Red Wings have actually passed up the Blue Jackets with 47 points on the year, but that lead could be gone after this game.

The Blue Jackets were expected to be a playoff contender, but this has been a disappointing season from the beginning until the end. Columbus has just two wins in its last 14 games, and they have the look of a team just counting down the days until the season ends.

Detroit Offense Comes Alive

The Detroit Red Wings are scoring just 2.1 goals per game this season, but they lit up the Blue Jackets on Friday night. This team is also playing without their star, Dylan Larkin, making the performance on Friday even more surprising.

Detroit has converted on just 10 percent of its power-play chances, and that has been a big reason for the lack of scoring. The Red Wings will have some offensive momentum on Saturday, and it’s up to the Blue Jackets to slow them down.

Goaltender Thomas Greiss made 22 saves in the win on Friday, and the Red Wings have done a nice job of slowing games down all season long. 

Columbus Must Get Stops

The Blue Jackets are allowing close to 3.3 goals per game this season, and goaltending has been a major issue. Joonas Korpisalo has actually stopped nearly 93 percent of the shots he has faced, but the Blue Jackets just give up too many good looks.

On the other end of the ice, it continues to be a one-man show for the Blue Jackets. Oliver Bjorkstrand leads the team in nearly every offensive category, but Columbus just hasn’t given their star much help. 

The Blue Jackets want to play at a much quicker pace than the Red Sox, but they also have to find a way to keep pucks out of their net. 

Blue Jackets Looking For Revenge

These two teams might not be playoff contenders this season, but they are evenly matched. Columbus was not very competitive on Friday night, but they could easily flip the script on Saturday and take control of this game.

The Detroit Red Wings don’t usually score that easily, but the Columbus defensive effort allowed that to take place. The Blue Jackets will have to be much better on both ends of the ice on Saturday, but look for the Red Wings to struggle as well.

This will be a great chance for the Blue Jackets to get some immediate revenge, but it’s going to take a much better all-around effort to get it done.