Osgood's healthy, will start Sunday

[IE]

Morning skate news: Osgood's healthy, will start Sunday


According to the Detroit Free Press's Helene St. James, Chris Osgood will be ready to go vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets,






On the goaltending front, Dominik Hasek will start tonight. Chris Osgood had a good long practice this morning, and said he felt much better after being too sick to practice Friday. Unless he has a setback, Osgood will start Sunday at Columbus. Chelios, Babcock said, will be back in the lineup against the Blue Jackets. In all likelihood Drake will be taken out for that game, because the Wings don't plan on using him in back-to-back games during the first half of the season.

 

[IE]

Blue Jackets hope to correct penalty-killing woes vs. Wings

The Columbus Blue Jackets head into Sunday's mid-afternoon (5 PM) game vs. the Detroit Red Wings hoping to not only close out a weekend of Ohio-over-Michigan sports dominance, but also to correct their penalty-killing issues against the Wings:

November 18, Columbus Dispatch: The Blue Jackets arrived in Joe Louis Arena on Nov. 9 with the best penalty kill in the NHL. They left a few hours later a humbled bunch, having allowed two power-play goals in a 4-1 loss to the Red Wings. The Jackets know they'll have to do better today, when they play the Red Wings in Nationwide Arena.

"If you're not killing penalties, it affects your entire game," Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock said. "If you kill penalties, it allows you to play the game more aggressively. You don't worry about taking one, because you know you can kill it."

The Red Wings have the 10th-best power play in the NHL. But, with arguably the most skilled players in the league, nothing is scarier than the Red Wings with an extra skater.

The Blue Jackets have killed 15 penalties in a row, including 6 of 6 in a 3-2 loss Friday to the St. Louis Blues. Blue Jackets right winger Nikolai Zherdev played extensively on the penalty-killing unit. He was paired most often with center Jiri Novotny.

The Blue Jackets are shaking things up in lieu of the early start:

The Blue Jackets will not skate this morning because of a 5 p.m. face-off today. They'll gather at 10 a.m. for meetings.

They'll also dress a different line-up, which will include Duvie Westcott, who's been a thorn in the Wings' sides both with and without the puck:

November 17, Columbus Dispatch: Goaltender Pascal Leclaire will be back in net on Sunday against the Red Wings.

Also, it looks like defenseman Ole-Kristian Tollefsen is feeling a lot better. The Jackets might wait a couple of more days to get [Tollefsen] back in the lineup. They can be a little more patient, because Duvie Westcott has played pretty well.

November 18, Columbus Dispatch: Player to watch: C Sergei Fedorov had a crucial turnover in Friday's 3-2 loss to the Blues, but he has a chance tonight -- against his former club -- to get a pretty good season back on track.

[Blue Jackets] injuries: D Ole-Kristian Tollefsen (flu), doubtful; C Michael Peca (groin), LW Fredrik Modin (back spasms), out.