The Detroit Red Wings are coming in off a 6-4 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, and they will hit the road to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets, who are coming off a 5-3 win over the New York Rangers.
Detroit Red Wings (1-1-0, 2 Points) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (1-1-0, 2 Points)
When: Monday, October 16
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Where: Nationwide Arena (Columbus, OH)
TV: Bally Sports Detroit
Scoring Leaders
What To Watch:
To this point, after two games, the offseason acquisitions have led the Red Wings. Tonight will be a game where you see the guys who have been here put on a show as they look to pick up another two points.
The tough task at hand for the Red Wings tonight will be trying to slow down the top two lines of Columbus as Adam Fantilli, Patrik Laine, and Alexandre Texier are on line one, and line two is made up of Johnny Gaudreau, Boone Jenner, and Kirill Marchenko.
By The Numbers:
Red Wings Player to Watch: Lucas Raymond
Raymond is in his third season, and tonight will be his 159th career game; he has put up 103 points in his career, coming on 41 goals and 62 assists. After a solid rookie season, he slipped up a little bit last season but has gotten off to a hot start in the first two games; he has one goal and is a plus-two.
Lucas Raymond’s Line Assignments
Raymond will play on the first line alongside Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Larkin. He will also play on the second power-play unit alongside Andrew Copp, J.T. Compher, Daniel Sprong, and Jeff Petry.
Raymond’s career vs. Columbus
In his career against Columbus, Raymond has played in six games and has recorded nine points, coming on four goals and five assists. Last season against the Blue Jackets, he played in three games, recording four points coming on two goals and two assists, and he was a plus-one.
Between the Pipes:
Detroit: James Reimer (0-0-0, 0.00 GAA)
Reimer is making his Red Wings debut tonight. Last season, he played in 43 games for the San Jose Sharks, going 12-21-8 with a 3.48 GAA and a .890 save percentage. In his career against Columbus, he has played in 15 games, going 4-8-3 with 50 goals against on 451 shots against.
Columbus: Spencer Martin (0-0-0, 6.00 GAA)
Martin came in for Elvis Merzlikins on Saturday night against the Rangers and allowed two goals on the 17 shots he faced. Martin has only faced the Red Wings once in his career, and that came last season when he was with Vancouver, he took the loss in that game, stopping 20 of the 25 shots he faced.
Wrap Up
This is a game the Detroit Red Wings must win as the Blue Jackets are not expected to be good this season, and the games you have to win are against the teams that are not supposed to be good; you can’t let those points slip away, and you have a tough stretch coming up against some good teams so this game is a game you have to pick up at least a point in, but two points are ideal.
In their last ten against the Blue Jackets, the Red Wings are 5-3-2 and outscored them 37-27. Last season against Columbus, the Red Wings went 2-1-0 and outscored them 13-7.
