Aaron Kahn Director of Hockey Operations | Detroit Red Wings Website
Aaron Kahn Director of Hockey Operations | Detroit Red Wings Website
The Detroit Red Wings are set to begin a two-game road trip with a match against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Thursday night. The Red Wings, holding a record of 15-18-4 and 34 points, aim for their third consecutive victory. Meanwhile, the Blue Jackets stand at 16-16-6 with 38 points.
The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m., with coverage available on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit and the Red Wings Radio Network (97.1 The Ticket). This game marks the beginning of the season series between these Eastern Conference teams, who will meet again in Detroit on February 27 and then at Ohio Stadium in Columbus for the NHL’s 2025 Stadium Series on March 1.
Detroit head coach Todd McLellan expressed his anticipation for the upcoming road games: “I’m excited to see how our team will respond on the road because we’re a week into [being] together as a group,” he said. McLellan noted that concepts have been established within the team, boosting their confidence.
In their recent game on Tuesday, nine different players contributed points in Detroit's 4-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. J.T. Compher, Jonatan Berggren, and Lucas Raymond each had multi-point performances. This victory marked McLellan’s third game as Detroit's head coach since rejoining last Thursday.
“Some of the areas that we’ve picked, we’ve gone after pretty hard,” McLellan stated regarding his influence on the team. He added that although it’s early days, there has been positive reception from players towards practice efforts.
The Blue Jackets are currently fifth in the Metropolitan Division and improved their home record to 12-4-3 following a shootout win against the Carolina Hurricanes. Key contributors include Kirill Marchenko and Zach Werenski, both surpassing 40 points this season. Sean Monahan, Dmitri Voronkov, and Kent Johnson have also provided offensive support. Goaltender Elvis Merzlikins holds a record of 12-9-3 with one shutout this season.
“They have a real good home record,” McLellan commented about Columbus’ performance at home. He emphasized that upcoming games would serve as a "roadmap" for evaluating team progress: “Can we keep forging forward or do we have to go back and review things? I’m excited to see how the group will play.”
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