Welcome back to The Warmup.
Here, you'll get everything you need to know – including keys to the game, where to watch and listen, and more – before the Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings meet for the second time this season, on Monday night at Nationwide Arena.
The Blue Jackets had a tough weekend on home ice, dropping consecutive games on Friday to the Washington Capitals, then a tough pill on Saturday night in Columbus against the New York Rangers.
TUNE-IN
Where to watch, listen and stream tonight's game...
WHO: Blue Jackets (7-5-0) vs. Red Wings (8-6-2)
WHERE: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
WHEN: 7 p.m. ET
TV: Bally Sports Columbus (Jeff Rimer, Jody Shelley)
RADIO: 97.1 FM (Bob McElligott, Dylan Tyrer)
STREAM: ESPN+ (out of market only)
THE LOWDOWN
It's not a stretch to say the Blue Jackets envisioned their Metropolitan Division back-to-back going a bit better than it did. While they dropped both games, our own Dan Dukart tells us that all is not lost – and Columbus did control each game for considerable stretches.
Friday night's 4-3 loss to Washington was probably the more frustrating of the two; the Blue Jackets crawled back from a 3-1 deficit to tie the game and seemed to be on the verge of at least one point in the standings before Conor Sheary's tough-angle winner. On Saturday, a three-goal burst by the Rangers in 1:31 was the story of the game. There was no turning back from there.
A month ago, the Blue Jackets were riding high after two straight wins to open the 2021-22 season – home victories over Arizona and Seattle, respectively. Then they arrived in Detroit and were taught a hard lesson about how they have to play: the Red Wings out-skated and out-worked them for just about the entirety of the game. If the Blue Jackets want to snap this two-game spell tonight, they have to do a better job managing the game and staying true to who they are.
ALL-TIME: The Blue Jackets are 43-47-14 in 104 all-time meetings with Detroit, including 25-20-8 at home. Recent years have been particularly kind to Columbus in the series; the Blue Jackets are 15-5-1 against the Red Wings since 2016-17, and 14-4-1 in the last 19 meetings at Nationwide Arena dating back to Mar. 28, 2012.
KEYS TO THE GAME
What do the Blue Jackets need to do to win tonight? We're glad you asked.
- Get Right Back at It: No hanging heads here, folks. The Blue Jackets know what they have to do and they've had no problems scoring goals at home so far. It's about picking your collective selves up, and getting back to work. The season comes at you fast, after all.
- Speed for Speed: The Blue Jackets are a fast team. They like to get up the ice and create plays, but defensively, they can get adventurous at times. "Playing fast" isn't just about what you do in the offensive zone, it also applies to how you play in your own end. Quick, clean exits and good sticks are important to disrupt the Red Wings' attack and make sure Columbus is playing most of the game in the Detroit end.
- Heads Above Water: Two rapid-fire sequences seemed to unnerve the Blue Jackets in both games last weekend, first a two-goal moment in time on Friday and then, the three-goal unraveling against the Rangers on Saturday. The Blue Jackets were able to collect and regroup on Friday, but the following night, they weren't able to recover. Avoiding those temporary lapses and not panicking are crucial to getting back in the win column tonight against Detroit.
From the head coach...
