Game Preview: Blue Jackets Look To Build Early-Season Momentum; Face Red Wings Monday Night

By Ed Francis on October 16, 2023 at 7:05 am
Game Preview: Detroit Red Wings at Columbus Blue Jackets
© Detroit Free Press-USA TODAY Sports
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DET
DETROIT RED WINGS

1-1-0 (2 pts; .500%)
ROSTER / SCHEDULE


7:00 P.M. – MONDAY, OCTOBER 16
NATIONWIDE ARENA
COLUMBUS, OH

TELEVISION:
Bally Sports Ohio
ESPN+ (Out of Market)
ODDS & PROJECTIONS:
ODDS OF CBJ WIN PER MONEYPUCK: 51%
TIPICO SPORTSBOOK: CBJ +105

Opening night was tough for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Saturday night was much improved. 

Boone Jenner had a natural hat trick, both the power play and defense looked better, and the Blue Jackets picked up their first win of the season, 5-3 over the New York Rangers.

Monday, Columbus welcomes the Detroit Red Wings to town as the home team looks to build a little bit of early-season momentum.

Here's what to know when the puck drops at Nationwide Arena:


CBJ SEASON STATS DET
3.50 GOALS FOR 4.50
3.50 GOALS AGAINST 4.00
0.00 GOAL DIFFERENTIAL +0.50
20.0% POWER PLAY 40.0%
83.3% PENALTY KILL 75.0%
27.0 SHOTS FOR 38.5
39.5 SHOTS AGAINST 26.0
39.0% 5V5 CF 49.5%
47.8% FACE-OFF 52.3%
RED WINGS: LAST THREE GAMES
THU, 10/12 @ Devils L, 4-3
SAT, 10/14 vs. Lightning W, 6-4
RED WINGS: TEAM LEADERS
GOALS Alex DeBrincat 3
ASSISTS (Three Players) 2
POINTS Alex DeBrincat 4
     

TALKING POINTS: DET

  • After a close 4-3 loss on the road to the New Jersey Devils to start the season, the Red Wings home opener Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning gave Detroit a 6-4 victory. The Wings have racked up a total of 77 shots on goal through two games, a shots on goal average that trails only the Colorado Avalanche to kick off 2023-24.
     
  • The line of Lucas Raymond, Dylan Larkin, and Alex DeBrincat have had a pair of sensational games to start the year. They're scored three goals in just over 15 minutes of ice time together. 

TALKING POINTS: CBJ

  • The lines between games one and two were wildly different — but the changes will be limited for Monday. The only changes in Sunday's practice were the additions of Jack Roslovic and Emil Bemstrom to the 4th line, in place of Liam Foudy and Mathieu Olivier. Look for Roslovic and Bemstrom to be centered by Sean Kuraly on the 4th line in Monday's game. 
     
  • The third defensive pairing of Jake Bean and Erik Gudbranson is off to quite the start: they're yet to allow a goal in 24 minutes of shared ice time. The injury to Zach Werenski and overall sloppy defensive play forced some changes between Thursday and Saturday, but the Bean-Gudbranson pairing was the one that stuck together and it paid off in the win over the Rangers.
     
  • Through two games, the Patrik Laine experiment at center has been up and down. There were some struggles Thursday, but he looked better Saturday and was in good position on several plays. As an added bonus, he's 13-14 at the faceoff dot — not bad for a guy who never played the position before training camp. Whether or not this is a long-term move remains to be seen, but through two games, he's done enough to earn a third start at center. 

PROJECTED CBJ LINES
Updated: 7:05 a.m. // Subject to Change

LW C RW
11 Adam Fantilli 29 Patrik Laine 42 Alexandre Texier
13 Johnny Gaudreau 38 Boone Jenner 86 Kirill Marchenko
91 Kent Johnson 4 Cole Sillinger 17 Justin Danforth
52 Emil Bemstrom 7 Sean Kuraly 96 Jack Roslovic
LD RD
22 Jake Bean 44 Erik Gudbranson
9 Ivan Provorov 55 David Jiricek
27 Adam Boqvist 78 Damon Severson
Starting Goalie Back-Up
70 Spencer Martin 90 Elvis Merzlikins
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