Datsyuk did not play in the 4-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday because of illness, but participated in the optional skate Tuesday morning.
"We anticipate him playing but we'll make that final decision later on [Tuesday]," coach Jeff Blashill said.
Datsyuk, 37, has 13 goals and 36 points in 49 games this season. He centers the top line with Justin Abdelkader and Henrik Zetterberg.
"He's such a dynamic player that he causes mismatch problems for other teams," Abdelkader said. "He's a good transporter of the puck. He's a big part of the team, obviously."
Goaltender Jimmy Howard will start against Columbus. Petr Mrazek allowed two goals on five shots in the first seven minutes against the Blackhawks.
The Red Wings (75 points) hold the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs out of the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers and one point behind the Pittsburgh Penguins.
"There's always urgency," Abdelkader said. "We have to find a way to string wins together here. You don't want to put together a stretch of too many games where you're not getting points because it will set you back."
There is no such playoff talk for the Blue Jackets, who are near the bottom of the Eastern Conference following a 6-0 loss at Philadelphia on Saturday.
"We didn't do a good enough job coaching; the players didn't do a good enough job playing and that's what you end up with," coach John Tortorella said. "Having said that, we haven't had a game like that in quite a while."
The Blue Jackets are 12-6-4 in the past 22 games since Jan. 13 and a big reason has been the play of rookie goaltender Joonas Korpisalo as a replacement for the injured Sergei Bobrovsky.
Backup Curtis McElhinney played against the Flyers but Korpisalo (13-8-4, 2.61 goals-against average) will start Tuesday.
Columbus will be without left wing Brandon Saad. Saad, who leads the Blue Jackets with 24 goals and is second with 41 points, will miss his second straight game with an upper-body injury, Tortorella said.
Here are the projected lineups:
RED WINGS
Justin Abdelkader - Pavel Datsyuk - Henrik Zetterberg
Gustav Nyquist - Riley Sheahan - Tomas Tatar
Dylan Larkin - Andreas Athanasiou - Brad Richards
Darren Helm - Luke Glendening - Tomas Jurco
Niklas Kronwall - Jonathan Ericsson
Danny DeKeyser - Alexey Marchenko
Kyle Quincey - Mike Green
Jimmy Howard
Petr Mrazek
Injured: Drew Miller (knee), Johan Franzen (concussion)
Scratched: Teemu Pulkkinen, Brendan Smith
BLUE JACKETS
Boone Jenner - Brandon Dubinsky - Cam Atkinson
Nick Foligno - Alex Wennberg - Scott Hartnell
Matt Calvert - William Karlsson - David Clarkson
Rene Bourque - Gregory Campbell - Jared Boll
Ryan Murray - Seth Jones
Cody Goloubef - David Savard
Fedor Tyutin - Dalton Prout
Joonas Korpisalo
Curtis McElhinney
Injured: Brandon Saad (upper body), Sergei Bobrovsky (groin), Jack Johnson (upper body)
Scratched: None
Status report: Blashill has not decided between Smith and Marchenko on defense.
Who's hot: Nyquist has two goals and two assists in a four-game point streak.
