Detroit Red Wings (34-28-6) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets (23-34-11)

When: 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Where: Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.

TV: Bally Sports Detroit.

Radio: WXYT-FM (97.1).

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Game notes: Hindsight can be a tricky thing when it comes to the NHL draft. After all, it’s easy enough to have a chuckle at the late Hartford Whalers’ decision, 40-ish years ago, to grab winger Sylvain Turgeon at No. 2 in the 1983 draft while passing on a run of not one, not two, but THREE Hall of Famers who went immediately after (Pat LaFontaine to the Islanders at No. 3, Steve Yzerman to the Wings at No. 4 and Tom Barrasso to the Sabres at No. 5). Ouch. But if we’d have done a redraft in the summer of 1984, the Whalers would have looked OK — Turgeon finished third in rookie of the year voting with 40 goals and 32 assists, albeit behind Barrasso, who not only won the Calder but also the Vezina as the league’s best goalie, and Yzerman, who had 87 points to lift the “Dead Wings” for the first time in six seasons.

Consider this when we look at Columbus rookie Adam Fantilli. The Michigan standout, who became one of just three freshmen ever to win the Hobey Baker Award (college hockey’s Heisman) last season, dropped from second to third in the draft when Anaheim opted for Swedish center Leo Carlsson instead. Roughly 80% of their rookie seasons later, Fantilli appears to be the winner, with 12 goals and 15 assists to Carlsson’s nine and 15, respectively. Of course, it’s still early in both their careers. (As it is for the No. 1 pick, Connor Bedard. But that’s a story for the game notes when Chicago comes to town next season.)

Fortunately for the Wings (and unfortunately for Michigan hockey fans who bought their LCA tickets a while ago), Fantilli won’t suit up for this one, after suffering a deep cut in his calf from a skate at the end of January. It’s yet another blow to the Blue Jackets, who’ve seemingly been in limbo since September; that’s when their hiring of former Wings coach Mike Babcock imploded over his demands to see the private photos on his players’ phones. Which is a sentence we couldn’t have foreseen writing a decade ago.

Anyway, Columbus cratered in November, losing nine straight, but waited until mid-February to fire general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, who was in his 11^th year heading the club. Almost everyone has been injured, with the exception of Johnny Gaudreau, who just hasn’t been much good — 11 goals and 39 assists in 68 games — in the second season of a 7-year, $68.2 million contract. At least former Michigan defenseman Zach Werenski is healthy again and has 36 assists in 56 games. His fellow Wolverine-in-Ohio, Kent Johnson (Columbus’ first-round pick in 2021), has six goals and 10 assists in 42 games and is on injured reserve with a shoulder injury.

Then again, “hasn’t been much good” pretty much describes the Red Wings in March, as they’ve won (or even gotten points) in just one of eight games this month. The Wings dropped out of the second wild-card spot on Monday with Washington’s victory in Calgary, though they still mostly control their own destiny, if only they could pick up some wins.

Perhaps the Blue Jackets are just what Dr. Yzerman prescribed (though didn’t we think that about the Coyotes, Sabres, the Coyotes again and, most recently, the Penguins)? The Wings are 2-0 this season against then, with a 4-0 win in their October meeting and a 5-4 win in November. Those nine goals were scored by nine different Red Wings, so good luck to everyone playing “Pick the Stick” at home.

Next up, the Wings open a stretch of seven straight games against playoff contenders — remember that whole “control their own destiny thing?” — with a visit from the Islanders on Thursday, followed by five straight on the road. The Blue Jackets, meanwhile, have four more games left on their road trip, with stops in Colorado (Friday), Vegas (Saturday), Arizona (Monday) and Pittsburgh (March 28) ahead.

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Contact Ryan Ford at rford@freepress.com. Follow him on X (which used to be Twitter, y’know?) @theford. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings game score vs. Columbus Blue Jackets: Time, TV