With the Red Wings and Blue Jackets extravaganza coming up on Saturday, it’s a game that will affect both teams in the standings, given how close they are to one another points-wise. Since the Wings haven’t looked as hot shortly before and in the games following the 4 Nations Face-Off, a win against any playoff-caliber team should factor in as a huge success.
That said, the Blue Jackets, given all the adversity they’ve dealt with over the years, are coming into this one and they will be motivated to snag the top wild card spot all to themselves. Currently, the Jackets and Wings are tied with 66 points apiece in 59 games, but with more wins and regulation wins than Columbus, Detroit narrowly holds the top spot.
But, are the Blue Jackets the Red Wings biggest threat to ultimately taking away their top spot in the wild card race, or perhaps even a playoff spot? Let’s look at a few teams and determine whether the Wings need to worry about the Blue Jackets more than anyone else.
5 - Boston Bruins
I honestly debated whether I should put the Bruins on here after this team had lost five straight. But when you look at those losses, all five of them have come by one goal, telling me the Bruins are still good enough to hang with anyone.
But, if they keep mishandling their roster, which has been the case all season, and sell a few players at the trade deadline, it’s over for the Bruins. There’s no way they’re climbing back into this thing, and when I revisit these rankings at a later date should the Red Wings stay well in the playoff hunt, I may not even mention them.
4 - Ottawa Senators
Remember what the Philadelphia Flyers were like last season? Yeah, they were that team who had no business contending but they made themselves contenders anyway. For a while, at least. Then, reality struck, and everything went down the drain.
That’s the vibe I get with the Ottawa Senators, a team that dramatically outperformed expectations and is now falling back to reality. Like the Bruins, the Senators have also lost five straight, but with two games in hand, I ranked them one slot ahead of their Atlantic Division rival.
3 - Montreal Canadiens
Okay, maybe I’m speaking too prematurely about the Senators because if you flashback to before the 4 Nations Face-Off, I’d have said that the Canadiens tank was empty. But after three straight wins, the Habs have a new life.
And fans are starting to notice, so it’s foolish to count out the Canadiens, especially since they seem to have more momentum going into that ‘down the stretch’ period than Boston or Ottawa. Yeah, it’s going to take some luck and resistance from selling at the trade deadline, but the Canadiens are a dark horse and well-deserving to be mentioned here.
2 - New York Rangers
The Rangers have been slowly clawing their way back to respectability and guess what? They’re back. Heading into Friday, the Blueshirts have 62 points and far more momentum than the Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators.
It’s strange to have a team in the Metro Division ranked ahead of Detroit’s Atlantic Division rivals on this list, but most of the core from the Rangers Presidents’ Trophy run is still here and they’ve spent the season moving on from distractions. They may not be finished yet and if that’s the case, expect the best version of this team to date all season to emerge from the trade deadline.
Currently eight points behind the New Jersey Devils, I doubt the Rangers have enough in them to snag a top-three spot. But they’re good enough of a hockey team to at least get close to their Metro Division rivals and that could make life tough for the Red Wings.
1 - Columbus Blue Jackets
As you probably figured out during the intro section of this article, there’s not another team out there more deserving than wearing that ‘biggest threat to the Wings’ label than the Blue Jackets. One win tomorrow during the Stadium Series matchup will put the Jackets ahead of the Wings, and teams like the Devils need to start looking over their shoulders.
Plus, the Blue Jackets are 19-6-4 at home this season, and with a crowd of 90,000 slated to be on hand, it’s hard to count Columbus out of this one. No, Red Wings fans don’t want to hear this news, but if you asked me, right now, to pick who’s winning in tomorrow’s contest, the honor’s going to the Blue Jackets.
It’s also worth noting that the Jackets lead all wild card contenders in the Eastern Conference in goals scored with 200, and they’re fourth in that same metric across the Atlantic and Metro Divisions. If the Red Wings plan on winning tomorrow and regaining momentum, they need to score often.