Detroit Red Wings vs Columbus Blue Jackets: Game preview, predictions and odds | January 2, 2025

The Detroit Red Wings are on the road to face the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET.

Both teams are coming off wins on Tuesday as Detroit (15-18-4) defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 while Columbus (16-16-6) won 4-3 over Carolina via a shootout.

Red Wings vs Blue Jackets: Head-to-head & key stats

• Detroit is 65-31-1-15 all-time against Columbus
• The Red Wings are averaging 2.6 goals per game
• The Blue Jackets are 12-4-3 at home
• Detroit is allowing 3.24 goals per game
• Columbus is averaging 3.3 goals per game
• The Red Wings are 6-8-2 on the road
• The Blue Jackets are allowing 3.58 goals per game

Detroit Red Wings vs Columbus Blue Jackets: Preview

Detroit is on a two-game winning streak, 2-1 since firing Derek Lalonde and replacing him with Todd McLellan. The Red Wings are led by Lucas Raymond's 38 points, Dylan Larkin's 29 points, Alex DeBrincat's 28 points and Moritz Seider's 20 points.

Detroit will start Alex Lyon who is 7-5 with a 2.83 GAA and a .899 SV%. In his career against Columbus, he is 1-0 with a 0.00 GAA and a 1.000 SV%.

Meanwhile, Columbus is 3-1 in its last four games and is expected to start Elvis Merzlikins who is 12-9-3 with a 3.07 GAA and a .891 SV%. In his career against Detroit, he is 5-2-1 with a 2.24 GAA and a .924 SV%.

The Blue Jackets are led by Kirill Marchenko who has 42 points, Zach Werenski with 40 points, Sean Monahan with 36 points and Dmitri Voronkov with 24 points.

Red Wings vs Blue Jackets: Odds & Prediction

Detroit is -102 while Columbus is a -118 favorite. The over/under is set at 6.5 goals.

The Red Wings have been playing well since firing Lalonde, but this is a tough spot for them as Columbus is one of the best teams at home this season. The Blue Jackets should be able to get out to an early lead as Merzlikins will play well in goal to lead them to a big home win.

Prediction: Blue Jackets 3, Red Wings 2.

Red Wings vs Blue Jackets: Head-to-head & key stats

Tip 1: Columbus ML (-118)

Tip 2: Under 6.5 goals (-118)

Tip 3: Alex DeBrincat 3+ shots on goal (-135)

Tip 4: Kent Johnson 1+ point (-110)