02/28/12. 2011/12: 64. Wings @ Blue Jackets 7:00 pm FSND, AM 1270

[lordstanley]

The Wings Are In Columbus ... And So Is Rick Nash Still





Presents the following thread:



(41-19-3=85)

AT



(18-37-7=43)

This game is a presentation of:



Game 64
Location: Nationwide Arena
Date: Tuesday, February 28st, 2012
Time: 7:00pm EST
Teams: Detroit Red Wings (Central) at Columbus Blue Jackets (Central)

Television Broadcast Provided by:



Fox Sports Net - DETROIT

Radio Broadcast Provided by:

NHL.com Game Preview


Detroit Red Wings at Columbus Blue Jackets Game Preview - 02/28/2012

Last 10: Detroit 6-3-1; Columbus 4-5-1

Season series: The Red Wings hold the 2-1-0 advantage over the Blue Jackets as the teams face off for the fourth of six regular-season meetings. Columbus did take the one home game played against Detroit this season.

Big Story: The Blue Jackets did not trade coveted superstar forward Rick Nash by Monday's official 3 pm ET deadline. This means that the high-impact right wing will complete his ninth season with Columbus. Although Nash has struggled to match his offensive output from previous seasons, he still leads all Jackets players with 43 points (21g, 22a) this season. Nash has also played well against Detroit throughout his career with 43 points (23g, 20a) in 52 games.

Team Scope:

Red Wings: While Detroit set an NHL record with its 23rd consecutive home win on Feb. 19, it has lost three straight games since then, including two in a row at Joe Louis Arena. The Wings' trip to Columbus will also have them seeking to end a current three-game road losing streak. But despite its recent struggles, Detroit can slip back into the top spot in the Western Conference with a win Tuesday and a Vancouver Canucks loss.

The Wings need an improvement over last Saturday's 4-3 loss against the visiting Avalanche in which the closest Detroit got to competing was a 3-1 deficit in the opening minute of the third period. Jiri Hudler scored twice for Detroit, while Valtteri Filppula got his team within one goal with a tally in the final five minutes of regulation, but it wasn't enough to overcome another unbalanced effort.

"It's unacceptable to play like that, to be as poor as we were," head coach Mike Babcock said after the game. "We had a rally in the third period, but for two games -- and probably for three -- we haven't had much energy."

Blue Jackets: Last-place Columbus has been relegated to playing the role of spoiler and, with three games left against the Central Division-leading Red Wings, it can still make an impact down the stretch. The Jackets will try to end a two-game losing streak Tuesday after being outscored by a total of 9-2 in their most recent losses to Pittsburgh and Colorado last week.

Although Nash was kept at the trade deadline, Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson was still answering plenty of questions about his captain in a post-deadline press conference Monday.

"Nash approached us and asked us to consider trading him. We pursued a number of options, but none provided the value back to have us trade a player of Rick's caliber," Howson said. "The price was high and I won't apologize for that."

Who's Hot: For Columbus, Nash has four points (3g, 1a) over his last three games played. … Filppula has 2 goals and 2 assists over his last four games for the Wings.

Injury Report: The Jackets will be without forwards Jared Boll (foot) and Kristian Huselius (groin). Defensemen Marc Methot and Radek Martinek are gone for the season. … For the Wings, forward Pavel Datsyuk is recovering from knee surgery, while forward Patrick Eaves remains out indefinitely with a concussion.

Stat Pack: It might not be so bad if Detroit falls behind early to Columbus on Tuesday as the Wings have won 50 percent of their games when trailing after one period, while the Jackets have just a .444 winning percentage when scoring the first goal of the game.

Puck Drop: The Wings were relatively quiet at the trade deadline, but they did deal veteran defenseman Mike Commodore to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday for a conditional draft pick and recalled 23-year-old d-man Brendan Smith from Grand Rapids (AHL) as a result. This was a move Red Wings management knew had to be made in order to clear room for a younger, more effective pair of legs on the blue line come playoff time.

"(Smith) really played good in the American Hockey League, it’s kind of hard to keep Mike Commodore around here when Brendan Smith is ahead of him, so we made a decision," general manager Ken Holland told the team's official web site shortly after the trade was made Monday.

[hail2mich]

No Lidstrom tonight. He is day to day with an ankle injury. Janik was called up for him.

[hail2mich]

Franzen! 1-0 Wings. Came right after the PP expired. Good start

[lordstanley]

A demoted Mule gets the Wings on the board.

[drownwithyou]

Kindl looks pretty good so far.

[lordstanley]

No Lidstrom tonight. He is day to day with an ankle injury. Janik was called up for him.

Is Quincey playing? He had groin issues yesterday.

[hail2mich]

Looks like Stuart knocked the puck in. PP goal credited to Rick Nash. Tied up at 1

[drownwithyou]

Stuart sux.

[lordstanley]

Looks like Stuart knocked the puck in.

Stuart is always screwing up like that :)

[drownwithyou]

Is Quincey playing? He had groin issues yesterday.

Nope.

Kronwall - Stuart
Kindl - White
Smith - Janik

[lordstanley]

Check the Panthers-Leafs score for a laugh.

[drownwithyou]

Check the Panthers-Leafs score for a laugh.

Panthers are unstoppable!

[lordstanley]

Panthers are unstoppable!

Florida is being outshot 8-2 but Reimer has let both shots in, lol!

[lordstanley]

Most media has the Wings as the #4 seed in the West currently. Same points and games played as STL but the Blues have one more regulation win. And suddenly the Preds are only 4 points behind in the race for homeice.

[drownwithyou]

Florida is being outshot 8-2 but Reimer has let both shots in, lol!

Wow that is bad.

[pjk49202]

I wonder how far down the Wings will fall before Dats comes back? This team is lost w/o Dats. And pretty much clueless w/o Dats and Lidstrom. Zetterberg really needs to step up. Ken and Mick mentioned that with Crosby down, Malkin has really stepped up. I don't see Zetterberg doing that at all.

[hail2mich]

2-1 Columbus after they get a SH goal...

Kronwall answers on the PP though (thank God). Tied back up at 2.

[hail2mich]

How did Zetterberg make that? Shot from the goal line and somehow gets it in. 3-2 Wings!

[sagnam]

Team looks lost ....

[hail2mich]

Mursak puts in it for his first of the season. Finally, Wings starting to separate themselves. 4-2 Wings

[sagnam]

Seriously, it might be time to blow the team up.

[hail2mich]

Filppula makes it 5-2. I think I'll catch the end of that Nashville game now.

[lordstanley]

Wow, 3rd period explosion after a blah 2nd period.

[Titus Tiger]

can't resisit

Get this team a GPS, they are lost

[jz]

This game was too close for too long but any road win is a good one the way this season has gone.

[pjk49202]

Great win by the Wings. Apparently, all I need to do is speak negatively abou players and they step up. I should do it more often. :)

[lordstanley]

5-2 win. The Wings at least temporarily move back into tie for 1st in the NHL.
The Preds lose in regulation to give the Wings some breathing room again over them.

[lordstanley]

Hawks just 3 points up on 9th and 10th (with Kings about to finish off blowout of Minnesota) and SJ only 1 up on 9th and 10th.

[Detroit Rock City]

Not the best effort but a road win is a road win. Really need Pavel back soon and for everyone else to get healthy.

[lordstanley]

Canucks drop a point in Phoenix to the insanely hot Coyotes.

[cruzer1]

Official scorers in Columbus give home team 31 hit advantage over Red Wings - Puck Daddy - NHL*Blog - Yahoo! Sports

[drownwithyou]

One of the first things I saw when I resumed this morning was Kronwall hitting someone haha.

[lordstanley]

The Jackets must incentivize the official scorer with tattoos and cars.

[Motor City Sonics]

The Jackets must incentivize the official scorer with tattoos and cars.

What is that supposed to mean?

[drownwithyou]

Ohio State reference?