Red Wings at Blue Jackets preview
Foligno back from suspension for Columbus; Detroit looking for first win in four games
by Craig Merz / NHL.com Independent Correspondent
RED WINGS (7-13-3) at BLUE JACKETS (8-8-4)
7 p.m. ET; FS-O, FS-D, NHL.TV
The Game
Nick Foligno will be in the lineup for the Columbus Blue Jackets as try to extend their three-game point streak when they play the Detroit Red Wings at Nationwide Arena on Thursday.
Foligno served a three-game suspension for elbowing Colorado Avalanche forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare on Nov. 9.
The Blue Jackets went 2-0-1 without Foligno and are 3-1-1 in the past five games.
Detroit is looking for its first win in four games (0-2-1).
Players to watch
Red Wings forward Anthony Mantha eight points (three goals, five assists) in the past seven games.
Blue Jackets forward Emil Bemstrom has six points (three goals, three assists) during a five-game point streak, tying five other players for the longest ever by a Columbus rookie.
They said it
"It's always interesting anytime you face a former teammate. He was with the organization a long time. He's like family." -- Red Wings forward Darren Helm on facing Blue Jackets forward Gustav Nyquist, who spent eight seasons with the Red Wings before being traded Feb. 25
"That whole thing is a blip on my screen. I know I need to be physical. I'm not worried at all about making a hit. It took me 13 years to have an incident like that so I'm not going to worry about something like that. Just go out and play." -- Blue Jackets forward Nick Foligno on his return from suspension
Red Wings projected lineup
Tyler Bertuzzi -- Dylan Larkin -- Anthony Mantha
Andreas Athanasiou -- Valtteri Filppula -- Robby Fabbri
Taro Hirose -- Frans Nielsen -- Brendan Perlini
Christoffer Ehn -- Luke Glendening -- Adam Erne
Jonathan Ericsson -- Madison Bowey
Filip Hronek -- Dennis Cholowski
Joe Hicketts -- Dylan McIlrath
Jimmy Howard
Jonathan Bernier
Scratched: Alex Biega
Injured: Danny DeKeyser (lower body), Trevor Daley (lower body), Patrik Nemeth (illness), Givani Smith (upper body), Justin Abdelkader (undisclosed), Darren Helm (lower body), Mike Green (upper body)
Blue Jackets projected lineup
Sonny Milano -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Emil Bemstrom
Alexandre Texier - Nick Foligno -- Cam Atkinson
Gustav Nyquist -- Boone Jenner -- Oliver Bjorkstrand
Eric Robinson -- Alexander Wennberg -- Josh Anderson
Zach Werenski -- Seth Jones
Ryan Murray -- David Savard
Vladislav Gavrikov -- Dean Kukan
Joonas Korpisalo
Elvis Merzlikins
Scratched: Scott Harrington, Riley Nash
Injured: Brandon Dubinsky (wrist), Markus Nutivaara (upper body), Kole Sherwood (oblique)
Status report
Green will not play after being injured against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday. Hicketts may take his spot. … Glendening and Helm will be game-time decisions. … Nash will be scratched with Foligno's return. … The Blue Jackets hired Paul MacLean as assistant coach/special teams on Thursday. He will join Columbus when his immigration paperwork is finalized.
Stat pack
Fabbri has seven points (three goals, four assists) in six games since being traded to the Red Wings by the St. Louis Blues on Nov. 8. … Werenski has points in four straight games (three goals, two assists).