#LGRW Daily: Detroit ready to forget Nashville series, focus on Columbus

DETROIT -- If Friday's practice was any indication, the Detroit Red Wings aren't ready to simply burn the film from Thursday's 7-1 loss at Nashville, a setback that extended their losing streak to three games.

After flying back to Detroit following Thursday's late puck drop in the Central time zone, the Red Wings skated at Little Caesars Arena on Friday afternoon, and the theme was a direct correlation from the previous night's lopsided setback, focused heavily on compete level, and getting the bad taste out of their mouths.
It's another quick turnaround for Detroit, which will host the Columbus Blue Jackets in a pair of weekend matinees, beginning with Saturday's 3 p.m. puck drop at Little Caesars Arena. Columbus trails fourth-place Chicago by just three points in the Central Division, and is coming off a competitive four-game swing against the Carolina Panthers, in which the Blue Jackets earned five points.
"Today was probably, arguably, the hardest practice of the year, in a sense of the drills that were selected," Red Wings winger Bobby Ryan said. "Those are games that you need some kind of response from. I think we had that today in practice; now you hope that it carries over. With this schedule, you're back to back again, there's not a lot of time to be down. You just want to come in; you want to have a great day to flush it for one, but to really ramp up the intensity too and get ready to go."

The Red Wings have been outscored 12-1 over the past three games after scoring a combined 17 goals in their previous five contests. Detroit will look to not only recapture that level of production against Columbus, but also come out with an elevated sense of urgency and competitiveness against an opponent that is on a quest to climb the standings.
"Our guys, rightfully so, were embarrassed last night. We were embarrassed," said Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill on Friday. "And so we should have had an intense practice today. I'd be shocked if we didn't start the game intense tomorrow. Now, the question is, when things go good for you tomorrow, or things go bad for you tomorrow, how do you react? That's the bigger question.
"When it goes the wrong way, do you dig in, or do you fold? The other night, I thought we folded big time, and then didn't do it right after that. So we're going to get tested. It's going to be a good team. They're super hungry for points. It's going to be a hard game, and we've got to make sure we do it for 60 (minutes)."

The immediate upcoming stretch will be an important one for Columbus, which starts a six-game road trip Saturday in Detroit. Following Sunday's series finale, the Blue Jackets will head to Florida for a pair of two-game series against the Lightning and Panthers, both vying for the Central division title.
Oliver Bjorkstrand (12 goals, 16 assists) leads a trio of Blue Jackets that have earned at least 20 points on the season, along with Cam Atkinson (12-11-23) and Jack Roslovic (5-15-20). In net, Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins have shared duties, with Korpisalo recording 24 starts with an .899 save percentage and a goals against average of 3.02.
Columbus coach John Tortorella enters Saturday's 668 career wins, just four behind Mike Keenan for 12th all-time in NHL history. The Blue Jackets have earned points in seven consecutive games against Detroit.
The Red Wings will continue their celebration of Women's History Month on Saturday, honoring the Comerica Bank
"Game Changers" from the month of March
. All four inspiring women will receive a personalized jersey and plaque as well as a $1,000 grant dedicated to a charity of their choice.
In Sunday's series finale, the Red Wings will
celebrate Kids Day
, with Detroit area youth involved in all aspects of the gameday experience, both at Little Caesars Arena and virtually.