Red Wings at Blue Jackets
The Columbus Blue Jackets have ignited their power play en route to winning back-to-back contests following a nine-game losing skid (0-8-1). The Blue Jackets look to continue their recent good fortune with the man advantage when they host the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday. Defenseman James Wisniewski scored two of Columbus' three power-play goals in a 4-3 triumph over Philadelphia on Friday and Cam Atkinson netted the eventual game-winning tally with the man-advantage in a 2-1 victory over San Jose the following night.
Riley Sheahan also netted a power-play goal on Sunday, but Detroit was unable to muster anything else and dropped a 4-1 setback to Montreal to fall for the fifth time in seven outings (2-2-3). The reeling Red Wings open a three-game road trip with a question looming over their heads as Pavel Datsyuk missed Monday's practice because of a recurrence of his groin injury. The Russian superstar sat out a pair of games last week with the issue and is questionable versus Columbus.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Fox Sports Detroit, Fox Sports Ohio (Columbus)
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (8-4-5): Coach Mike Babcock has many familiar phrases that his team has heard all too often - and "Start on time" is high on the list. "It's just being ready from the drop of the puck," said goaltender Jimmy Howard, who has been confirmed to start Tuesday's tilt. "When we score first, we seem to be a pretty good team. When we get behind by a goal or spot the other team a couple, it seems to be an uphill climb for us." Howard is right on the money with his assessment as Detroit is 5-1-2 when it scores the first goal - and 3-3-3 when it doesn't.
ABOUT THE BLUE JACKETS (6-10-1): Columbus coach Todd Richards knows the hand that he's been dealt after seeing his team already lose 118 man games to injury - and the Blue Jackets have only played 17 contests this season. "This is just the way that it's going," Richards told the Columbus Dispatch. "You get a couple guys back, you get 'Artie' (Artem Anisimov) and 'Bob' (Sergei Bobrovsky) and now it's possible that we lose 'Joey.'" Richards is referring to Ryan Johansen (team-high 20 points), who suffered a lower-body injury versus the Sharks and is questionable against the Red Wings after missing practice on Monday.
OVERTIME
1. Columbus RW Jack Skille (wrist) and LW Matt Calvert (upper body) returned to practice on Monday and could face Detroit after missing four and three games, respectively.
2. The Red Wings are 0-4-0 in their last four visits to Nationwide Arena.
3. Wisniewski collected three assists as the Blue Jackets posted a 4-2 victory over Detroit on March 25 to take two of the three meetings between the clubs.