Game Preview: Blue Jackets Start Road Back-To-Back In Detroit For Saturday Afternoon Match-Up Versus Red Wings

DETROIT RED WINGS
7-5-2 (15 pts; .571%) ROSTER SCHEDULE
1:00 P.M. – SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11 LITTLE CAESARS ARENA DETROIT, MI
TELEVISION: NHL Network
ODDS & PROJECTIONS:
ODDS OF CBJ WIN PER MONEYPUCK: 44%
TIPICO SPORTSBOOK: CBJ +145

If the first nine minutes of a game were all that counted, the Columbus Blue Jackets put together an incredible effort en route to a dominating win over the Dallas Stars on Thursday night.

But games are 60 minutes, and the Blue Jackets early 2-0 lead ended in a 5-2 loss as turnovers again ruled the day for a young Columbus squad. 

It was the 7th loss in eight games for the Blue Jackets, who will look to put together a complete effort Saturday afternoon when they face the Detroit Red Wings for the second time this season. For Columbus, who travel to the Big Apple for a game against the New York Rangers on Sunday, this marks the first time this season they will have road games on back-to-back days. 

Here's what to know when the puck drops at the Little Caesars Arena in the Motor City:

TALKING POINTS: DET

• The Red Wings give up goals. Specifically, they've given up at least two goals in all but one of their first 14 games this season. That, of course, was James Reimer's 4-0 shutout victory over the Blue Jackets back on October 16th. 
   
• The Detroit power play is just 2-for-31 over its last seven games, but remains a top ten power play in the NHL at 23.3%. Over that same span, opponents are converting at nearly 27% (7-for-26). The Red Wings are 2-4-1 in those seven games, with both victories by a single goal.
   
• Ville Husso will be in net Saturday for the red and white. He made three starts for Detroit last season against Columbus, going 2-1-0 with a 2.35 goals against average and .920 save percentage. In his nine starts this season, Husso has a 3.57 GAA, slightly above his expected goals against of 3.36 (according to MoneyPuck). 

TALKING POINTS: CBJ

• This may or may not be the Patrik Laine return game. He's been a full participant in practice in recent days and head coach Pascal Vincent has indicated that it's close. Laine has said he's hopeful to play this weekend. (We'll update this as soon as official word comes Saturday from the club.)
   
• It's too early to sound all of the alarms, but it's probably fair to set at least a couple of them off after Columbus gave up five goals for the second straight game in the Thursday loss. That's something they did 30 times last season in 82 games, but had done only once (the first game against Dallas) in the first 11 games this season.
   
• With a pair of successful penalty kills against the Stars, the Blue Jackets are now at six straight games without allowing a power play goal. If they can make it seven against the Red Wings, that'll be the longest streak for a Columbus PK since the final eight games of the 2018-19 season. (For what it's worth, three of those eight games had no penalty kill chances for Columbus and had a total of 10 kills. Did they stop calling penalties in the spring of 2019?!)

Updated: 7:05 a.m. 
Subject to Change