Preview: Blue jackets start crucial at home and at home against red wings

Is it time to examine the ranking?

It certainly seems like this for Blue Jackets fans. When Columbus is fighting to earn his first post-season offer since the 2019-20 season, the CBJ supporters seem to check every evening where the team is piled up against the rest of the Eastern Conference.

It is a mixed bag for the players.

“It's fun to look at it,” said Zach Werenski. “We are in a great place and have not been here for a long time. We should enjoy it, we should hug it and we should know what is ahead of us. So I'm the guy who looks at it. I know some boys don't, but it's good to know where we are. “

“Obviously they look, but there are still 24 games left,” said defender Ivan Provorov. “Every game is important. Our focus is on the attempt to concentrate on one game after the other. “

No matter what the approach of the CBJ player is, it is fair to say that you deal with her place with serenity. The Blue Jackets are rejuvenated from injuries by a few return to the squad and returned from the 4-nation-view break with two home victories against Chicago and Dallas.

The 6: 4 victory on Tuesday against Stars moved the team back to a playoff position when the Blue Jackets have the last place in the Wild Card classification of the Eastern Conference. Just before you? The team that you will play in the next two competitions, the Detroit Red Wings, who have a two-point advantage over Columbus.

This is what makes the two-game series, which begins in Detroit this evening and ends on Saturday with the game of the NHL Stadium Series in the Ohio Stadium, crucial for the post-season race.

“Obviously it is almost like a small preview in front of the outdoor game there and plays there on Thursday,” said Provorov. “I think in a way you can count it as a mini playoff series. Two games at home. Nothing better than that. “

If the blue jackets can play like you have done against the Blackhawks and Stars, they will be in good shape. The victory against Dallas, who entered third place in the league in the points, was particularly impressive. Eleven different players had points, led by a performance with two goals from Kirill Marcheko, and the blue jackets were never looked up in a game with blows and objects.

The games always take up additional importance, but the players say that the key to staying in the race is to continue to play the same way.

“They are really important games at the moment,” said Marchenko. “I would not say that every game is a playoff game, but it makes really fun games. Everyone enjoys this moment. If you win, you have a lot of fun. We try to do our work and think about the next game. Don't think of 24 (left). Just have our next game in Detroit and try to achieve a victory for us and try to do the same work that we did today. “

Know the enemy: Detroit Red Wings

Head coach: Todd McLellan (first season)

Team statistics: Goals per game: 2.90 (18th) | Scoring defense: 3.12 (22nd) | PP: 29.2 percent (2nd) | PK: 69.6 percent (32nd)

The story: After a historic 25-year series to make the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Red Wings did not qualify for the off-season in eight seasons in a row. There was great hopes that a talented young core, which was mixed with veterans, would stop this run of nine years from it, but Detroit messed up in the first half of the season and at the end of December head coach Derek Lalonde fired. The move to McLellan has achieved a great influence, with the wings achieved 17-5-2 in his tenure and moving in the first Wild Card Spot.

Team leader: The Red Wings have a goalkeeper in Lucas Raymond, when the 22-year-old Swede, who finished fourth last season in the 2020 draft last season, scored 31 goals this year with 63 points (22 goals, 41 assists). Captain Dylan Larkin is next with a 24-29-53 line, while the goal scorer of the dangerous goal, Alex Debrincat, leads the team with 26 goals under 50 points. Mortiz Seider leads the defense with 35 points to five goals and 30 templates, while Patrick Kane has a line of 14-21-35.

Cam Talbot has started 30 games in the net high-high-high-high-high-high-high-high-high value and is 17-11-3 with 2.95 GAA and 0.905 savings percentage. Alex Lyon (11-6-1, 2.74, .902) is the main security after Ville Husso's recent trade.

What is new: The Red Wings had a winning streak with seven games shortly before the break of the 4 nations and won a total of nine out of 11, partly because their top players appear. Raymond (7-18-25), Larkin (11-13-24) and Debrincat (11-11-22) have been among the top 15 goal scorers of the NHL since January 1, while Kane added 18 points and Marco Kasper 16 points. It is noteworthy that the power play achieves 8 out of 16 chances in the last five games, and Talbot in its last 14 decisions 11-2-1.

Trying: Detroit won the series of the season a year ago and granted Columbus a heartbreaker in the first meeting of the year. In the last minute he scored a 5: 4 victory on January 2.

Former CBJ: Tyler Motte played 31 games for the Red Wings this year, and the wing has two goals and two templates in the campaign.