Columbus Blue Jackets (88 pts) vs. Detroit Red Wings (88 pts) Game Preview

The Columbus Blue Jackets are in the Motor City for the first of three straight road games. This game features the Detroit Red Wings.

Detroit Red Wings – 40-29-8 – 88 Points – 4-6-0 in the last 10 – Lost 2 – 6th in the Atlantic

Columbus Blue Jackets – 38-27-12 – 88 Points – 3-6-1 in the last 10 – Lost 3 – 5th in the Metro

Team Notes Per CBJ PR

Columbus fell 2-1 to Winnipeg in its most recent contest on Saturday. It begins its final road trip of the regular season on Tuesday at Detroit and includes games at Buffalo (Thursday) and Montreal (Saturday).

The Blue Jackets play all four of their games this week against the Atlantic Division. The club has earned points in 18 of its last 22 games against the division dating back to Apr. 8, 2025 (13-4-5).

CBJ rank second in the NHL in scoring the first goal of the game (46) and fourth in goals scored in the opening period (79).

The Jackets have also earned points in 25 of their past 33 contests overall since Jan. 11 (20-8-5, 45 pts.). The club ranks third in the league in goals-against per game (2.61) and fifth-T in points pct. (.632) over that stretch.

The team has earned points in 10 of its last 14 road games, ranking fifth in the league in points pct. since Jan. 11 (9-4-1, .679).

Columbus leads the NHL with a franchise-record 57 goals scored by defensemen in 2025-26 (57-133-190, 77 GP).

Player Notes Per CBJ PR

Adam Fantilli has set single-season career highs in assists and points with 21-34-55 in 77 contests.

Jet Greaves has earned points in 15 of his last 19 starts (12-4-3, 2.34 GAA, .913 SV% in 20 GP), ranking fifth among goaltenders in GAA and seventh in SV% since Jan. 11 (min. 6 GP).

Kirill Marchenko has posted assists in three of the past four games (1-4-5) and is the fifth player in Blue Jackets history with 25-plus goals in consecutive seasons (31 in 2024-25; 26 in 2025-26).

Mason Marchment has collected assists in each of his past three outings (1-4-5) and has 2-5-7 in his last six games. He ranks second on the team in goals since making his CBJ debut on Dec. 20, 2025 (14-14-28 in 34 GP).

Zach Werenski, with 21-57-78 in 70 games in 2025-26, sits two assists shy of tying the franchise’s record for assists in a single season set by Artemi Panarin (79 GP in 2018-19) and matched by the defenseman in 2024-25 (81 GP). He’s also two points away from becoming the third American-born defenseman in NHL history with consecutive 80-point campaigns (Brian Leetch, 1990-91 – 1991-92 with NYR; Phil Housley, 1991-92 – 1992-93 with WPG).

Blue Jackets Stats

Power Play – 19.5% – 21st in the NHL
Penalty Kill – 76.3% – 27th in the NHL
Goals For – 236 – 18th in the NHL
Goals Against – 234 – 22nd in the NHL

Red Wings Stats

Power Play – 22.0% – 13th in the NHL
Penalty Kill – 77.3% – 25th in the NHL
Goals For – 223 – 22nd in the NHL
Goals Against – 231 – 12th in the NHL

Series History vs. The Red Wings

Columbus is 49-52-1-15 all-time, and 21-28-0-8 all-time in Detroit.
Columbus has earned points in four-straight meetings of the series vs. Detroit (3-0-1) and five of the last six (3-1-2).

CBJ have earned points in three consecutive road games (1-0-2) and five of the past six at Little Caesars Arena (3-1-2).

After going 19-39-11 vs. Detroit from 2000-12, the Blue Jackets are 30-13-5 since the 2012-13 campaign.

The road team has recorded points in 10 of the last 12 games of the series dating back to Apr. 9, 2022 (7-2-3).

The teams have combined for seven or more goals in 13 of the past 16 contests, including the last seven-straight.

The winning team has scored four or more goals in 16 consecutive games since May 7, 2021, and in 18 of the last 20 in the overall series dating back to Mar. 2, 2021.

Five of the past six games at Detroit have been decided by a single goal with three decided in overtime (CBJ; 1-2).

CBJ has scored a power play goal in five of the past six meetings overall (6-of-13; 46.2 pct.)

Who To Watch For The Red Wings

Alex DeBrincat leads the team with 39 goals and 81 points.
Lucas Raymond leads Detroit with 48 assists.
Goalie John Gibson is 28-20-3 with a SV% of .904.

CBJ Player Notes vs Red Wings

Boone Jenner has 29 points in 35 games vs. the Red Wings.

Zach Werenski has 25 points in 27 games.
Charlie Coyle has 14 points in his career against Detroit.

Injured Reserve & Other Injuries

Brendan Smith – Lower Body – Missed 39 Games IR – Out for the rest of the regular season.
Damon Severson – Missed 5 Games – Upper Body – OUT FOR THE SEASON
Dmitri Voronkov – Missed 4 Games – Upper Body – Week-to-week
Mathieu Olivier – Missed 3 Games – Upper Body – OUT FOR THE SEASON

TOTAL MAN GAMES LOST: 198

How to Watch & Listen: Tonight’s game will be on FanDuel Sports Network. The radio broadcast will be on 97.1 The Fan, with Bob McElligott behind the mic doing the play-by-play.

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