Red Wings at Blue Jackets
The Columbus Blue Jackets look to string three wins together for the first time this season when they host the rejuvenated Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night before heading to California for the next three games. The Blue Jackets, who play at San Jose, Los Angeles and Anaheim later in the week, scored seven times to win at St. Louis on Thursday before Cam Atkinson’s goal in overtime beat Buffalo 5-4 on Saturday at home.
“We’ve got a good group here. I really like the team,” Columbus coach John Tortorella told reporters of his Blue Jackets, who coughed up a two-goal lead in the third period Saturday. “I think we’re beginning to show more personality but you never know. It’s like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get shift to shift at certain times.” Most of this season has left a sour taste in the mouths of the Red Wings, but they left the ice with smiles after Sunday’s 4-2 triumph over Dallas for their first home win of the season. “Tonight, we got rewarded (for playing well),” Detroit forward Tyler Bertuzzi told reporters after the victory. “We scored four goals and that’s going to win a lot of hockey games.” The Red Wings have posted their two wins in the last four contests and will need another strong effort to snap a seven-game losing streak against Columbus, which included a 3-2 overtime loss at home on opening night.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Detroit Plus, FS Ohio (Columbus)
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (2-7-2): Left wing Justin Abdelkader and defenseman Jonathan Ericsson each scored their first goals of the season Sunday and right wing Anthony Mantha posted his second in the victory. Dylan Larkin recorded a pair of assists to take over the team lead with nine points - one better than fellow forward Gustav Nyquist - as Detroit earned the win despite being outshot for the ninth straight game. Veteran center Frans Nielsen (six assists) is not expected to play and versatile forward Andreas Athanasiou (four goals) is questionable for Tuesday’s contest due to undisclosed injuries.
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (6-4-0): Left wing Artemi Panarin, who leads the team with 15 points, has played a big role in the last two games with a pair of goals and four assists to go along with a plus-5 rating. Atkinson has also recorded five of his 11 points in the past three contests and defenseman Zach Werenski owns a goal and five assists during a five-game point streak. Backup Joonas Korpisalo is 4-0-0 with an .897 save percentage, including wins in the last two contests, while Sergei Bobrovsky is just 2-4-0 with an .872 SP but owns a 12-4-1 record .936 SP and 1.98 goals-against average lifetime versus Detroit.
OVERTIME
1. Detroit G Jimmy Howard allowed two goals in three of his last four games and is 12-6-6 career against Columbus.
2. The Blue Jackets are 22nd in the league on the power play (15.4 percent) and 25th on the penalty kill (72.7).
3. Red Wings rookie D Dennis Cholowski had one of his two goals against Columbus in the opener.