Preview: Blue Jackets at Red Wings

BLUE JACKETS (15-5-4) at RED WINGS (13-11-3)
7:30 p.m. ET; FS-O, FS-D+, NHL.TV

Blue Jackets team scope

The Columbus Blue Jackets, who've been off since their 4-1 victory against the Arizona Coyotes on Monday, come to Joe Louis Arena having won four in a row. They are 8-1-2 in their past 11 games and have outscored their opponents 14-4 in the third period during that span. "I'm still not sure we're a [good] third-period team, but we've had some good third periods," coach John Tortorella told the Columbus Dispatch earlier this week. Columbus loaned defenseman Dalton Prout to the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League for a conditioning assignment. Defenseman Zach Werenski and Detroit forward Dylan Larkin, two longtime friends, will play against each other for the first time. They first played together on a youth team in 2007, were teammates in the U.S. National Team Developmental Program and roommates at the University of Michigan.

Red Wings team scope

The Detroit Red Wings have three players returning from injury: goalie Jimmy Howard, defenseman Alexey Marchenko and forward Andreas Athanasiou. Howard will dress as Petr Mrazek's backup, but Marchenko and Athanasiou are expected to play regular minutes. "They both missed a bunch of games, so we are going to put them out there and see how things go," coach Jeff Blashill said. "If we need to cut their ice time a little, we can do that." Athanasiou missed 12 games with a knee injury, Marchenko missed eight with a shoulder problem and Howard was out for six with a groin strain. Blashill said Larkin and Riley Sheahan will continue to rotate between center and wing.

Blue Jackets projected lineup

Brandon Saad -- Alexander Wennberg -- Nick Foligno
Boone Jenner -- Brandon Dubinsky -- Cam Atkinson
Scott Hartnell -- William Karlsson -- Josh Anderson
Matt Calvert -- Lukas Sedlak -- Sam Gagner
Zach Werenski -- Seth Jones
Jack Johnson -- David Savard
Ryan Murray -- Markus Nutivaara
Sergei Bobrovsky
Curtis McElhinney
Scratched: Scott Harrington, Oliver Bjorkstrand
Injured: David Clarkson (back)

Red Wings projected lineup

Anthony Mantha -- Henrik Zetterberg -- Tomas Tatar
Gustav Nyquist -- Riley Sheahan -- Thomas Vanek
Luke Glendening -- Frans Nielsen -- Andreas Athanasiou
Tomas Jurco -- Dylan Larkin -- Steve Ott
Danny DeKeyser -- Mike Green
Jonathan Ericsson -- Alexey Marchenko
Niklas Kronwall -- Xavier Ouellet
Petr Mrazek
Jimmy Howard
Scratched: Drew Miller, Ryan Sproul, Brian Lashoff
Injured:Darren Helm (upper body), Brendan Smith (lower body), Tyler Bertuzzi (ankle), Justin Abdelkader (lower body)

Status report

Columbus recalled Bjorkstrand from Lake Erie of the American Hockey League on an emergency basis. Werenski rejoined the team after missing two days of practice for his grandfather's funeral. Tortorella, whose team hasn't played since a 4-1 home win against the Arizona Coyotes on Monday, gave his players the morning off. … The Red Wings held a lightly attended optional morning skate, and Blashill won't set his lines and defense pairs until game time. "We've got a few guys who are question marks coming out of Tuesday in terms of health," he said, "so we'll wait and see who is ready to go."

Who's hot

Bobrovsky is 8-1-1 in his past 10 games, allowing 19 goals and holding opponents to two goals or fewer in eight of the 10. The Blue Jackets had 20 points after 24 games last season, 14 fewer than they have in the same number of games this season. … Columbus has four players with at least 21 points; Henrik Zetterberg leads Detroit with 20. Mrazek is 4-0-2 with a .920 save percentage since Howard's injury.