PREVIEW: Wild-Card implications at forefront for Red Wings, Blue Jackets at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday

DETROIT -- Both trailing the Ottawa Senators by two points for the Eastern Conference’s second Wild-Card spot as the push to secure a Stanley Cup Playoffs berth enters its final days, the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets will square off at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday night.

“We all know, as the years goes on, it’s harder and harder to win, especially when you’re playing teams in a similar scenario as you are,” James van Riemsdyk said. “Again, we’re trying to do the right things. We have a good awareness of what we’re doing when we’re playing our best. We just have to find that a little bit more consistently. A lot of these games are close, where it’s one play here or one play there. We just got to make sure we crank that dial up a little bit more to find more consistency. Getting off to a great start would be a huge deal.”

The Red Wings (40-29-8; 88 points) and Blue Jackets (40-29-8; 88 points) will drop the puck at 7 p.m., with broadcast coverage on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit and the Red Wings Radio Network (WWJ Newsradio 950 in Detroit). This marks the third and final regular-season meeting between the geographic rivals, as Detroit won 4-3 in overtime at Little Caesars Arena on Nov. 22 and gained a point via 6-5 shootout loss at Nationwide Arena on Dec. 4.

“We know how important these games are for the standings and everything like that,” van Riemsdyk said. “We want to make this a tough place to play in for other teams, so it starts right from the get-go. We got to do that tonight and build off that from there.”

Against the Minnesota Wild on Sunday, the Red Wings grabbed a 1-0 lead on their first shot of the game early in the opening frame but went on to allow four unanswered second-period goals. They managed to tie things up in the third, but the Wild capitalized on a late power play in what was a 5-4 loss when the dust had cleared. 

“Going back these last couple weeks, our starts have been not good enough, except for maybe the game in Buffalo and Philadelphia,” Patrick Kane said. “Obviously, we were up 1-0 last game, but still probably could play better at that point. I think we had a lot of shots that missed the net, so sometimes the shot count looks a little bit different. Then you get down 4-1…I thought Todd did a good job of challenging us and trying to get us to come out for a better third period, and we did that.”

Head coach Todd McLellan felt Detroit played a smart desperate game in the third period against Minnesota -- exactly the style it’ll need in its final five regular-season contests.

“We’re not going to be perfect, but we were on our toes, aggressive, forechecked and created turnovers,” McLellan said. “We played with confidence. Second period was the complete opposite, so there’s the antithesis of one to the other.”

Similarly, Kane emphasized that when Red Wings don’t have their A-game, each player has to take responsibility and try to create a spark.

“I think the biggest thing isn’t waiting around,” Kane said. “You can’t wait for one guy to do it -- you have got to go do it yourself. Obviously, everyone has their role within the team and what they’re supposed to do, but there are still ways to bring energy, excitement and some pop to the lineup. Obviously, we want to start that earlier than we have, but kind of what we did in that third period I think can give us a little bit of momentum going into this game.”

Since replacing Dean Evason as head coach on Jan. 13, Rick Bowness has guided the Blue Jackets to a 19-8-5 record and right back into the postseason mix. However, a 2-1 setback to the Winnipeg Jets at Nationwide Arena on Saturday pushed Columbus’ winless streak to six straight games.

Zach Werenski, a Grosse Pointe, Mich., native, leads the Blue Jackets with 78 points (21 goals, 57 assists), followed by Kirill Marchenko with 64 points (26 goals, 38 assists) and Charlie Coyle with 56 points (18 goals, 38 assists). In 48 starts, goaltender Jet Greaves has posted a 24-16-9 record, 2.58 goals-against average, .909 save percentage and two shutouts.

“Our games against Columbus were so long ago that we did use some of that in the pre-scout,” McLellan said of the club’s style of play under Bowness compared to Evason. “But, we focused on what they were doing and are doing now, and they’re doing a lot of real good things.”