Preview: Red Wings Hope For Moral Victory Against the Blue Jackets

February 21, 2013; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Red Wings left wing Drew Miller (20) skates behind the goal of Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (72) in the third period at Joe Louis Arena. Columbus won 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

The Detroit Red Wings host the Columbus Blue Jackets in the second game of the home and home series at 5:00 p.m. ET.

After losing to Lumbus three times in a row and dropping the first ever season series to the worst team in the league, there is nothing good to say about the Red Wings. The turnovers doomed them and a terrible power play killed him last night. The Wings will have to play much better tonight if they want to win.

Columbus came out firing and took it to the Wings in all three periods. Lumbus was missing some key players, but the lack of scoring chances compacted with the great play of Sergei Bobrovsky made it an easy win for the Blue Jackets.

Projected Line-up

Forwards

Johan Franzen – Henrik Zetterberg – Damien Brunner

Daniel Cleary – Pavel Datsyuk – Justin Abdelkader

Drew Miller – Cory Emmerton – Jordin Tootoo

Tomas Tatar – Joakim Andersson – Patrick Eaves

Defensemen

Niklas Kronwall – Jonathan Ericsson

Kyle Quincey – Brendan Smith

Brian Lashoff – Jakub Kindl

Goaltender

Jimmy Howard

So much for the defense stepping up. A mixture of bad luck and terrible passes doomed them from the start.

Mike Babcock mixed up the lines in the third period, but nothing has seemed to help the Wings put points on the board.

Columbus has won the season series against the Wings this season. Anger is the appropriate reaction.

Random Fact – Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, and Damien Brunner are all on  6+ game goal droughts.

Prediction: Lumbus once again wins 5-1. I hate myself right now for predicting that.

UPDATE: Ian White is in on defense, while Brian Lashoff sits.