On Oct 21, the Red Wings had the perfect scenario for dealing with the early season inactivity: come in undefeated and take on the winless Columbus Blue Jackets. Now, after suffering the first loss of the season at the hands of the Washington Capitals, the Red Wings face the perfect scenario for a good bounce-back game: take on the winless Columbus Blue Jackets again!
Detroit beat the Blue Jackets by a final score of 5-2 and were confident going into their game against the Capitals, but they were quickly humbled. Now, they'll head to Columbus to try and take out their frustrations on the team that is coming off another loss, this one to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. Sitting at 0-7-1, they're looking for anything to boost them in tonight's game against the Red Wings.
James Wisniewski might be that boost - he's making his Blue Jackets debut after signing a six-year, $22 million contract in the offseason. He had to miss the first eight games of the season after being suspended for a hit to the head of Cal Clutterbuck of the Minnesota Wild.
The Red Wings, though, have their all-start cast at hand. The likes of Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen are mainstays not likely to be deterred by one returning defenseman, though there is some cause for worry if you're a Detroit fan. Starting goaltender Jimmy Howard is out of the game, given the night off to be with his wife and their first child. Ty Conklin gave up all seven goals to the Capitals on 25 shots in his last outing, and will get the start again in place of Howard, with Joey MacDonald as the backup.
The game is set for 7:00 p.m. Easten and you can find the game, as usual, on Fox Sports Detroit.