Red Wings Face Big Test Heading Into Home-and-Home With Blue Jackets...Really

Hockey, like life itself, is filled with challenges you never think are that daunting until they're staring you in the face.

A month ago, had the Wings collectively looked at the schedule and seen the upcoming home-and-home series against the Columbus Blue Jackets that starts tonight, it's unlikely they would have felt any sense of uncertainty about their ability to win both games.

After all, mid-December was about the time the Jackets really began to tank in earnest, and while the Wings themselves had begun to cool a bit, they still had Pavel Datsyuk, Dan Cleary and Brad Stuart in the lineup.

Now, the situation is a bit different.

True, the Jackets are still floundering and are on a five-game losing streak. On the other hand, the Red Wings are banged up and can't keep the puck out of their own net with any regularity.

What was a rather large mismatch of teams is now a much more even tilt.

The Blue Jackets, like most teams in the league, view a game against Detroit as a measuring stick and a potential morale booster should they skate away with a "W."

Five-game skid or not, the Jackets are going to squeeze every ounce of determination out of themselves as they face off against their Central Division rivals on home ice.

I'm here to tell you now that unless Detroit approaches the game with equal intensity, the Jackets are likely going to end their slide tonight.

The "big test" I mention in the headline is simply this: Play more desperate than a desperate team.

Over the past 10 games, the Red Wings have seen their penalty-killing take a dive—it's currently 17th in the league—and their goaltending struggle with consistency—Jimmy Howard has allowed three or more goals seven times over his past 10 starts.

No doubt the absence of players like Datsyuk, Cleary and most recently Stuart hurt the team on the defensive side of the game. However, it isn't a problem hard work cannot overcome.

The Red Wings must use this back-to-back matchup with Columbus to re-establish their attention to defensive details and their dedication to outworking the opposition, as well as their ability to play a 60-minute game.

The importance of this goes beyond a potential four-point gain in the standings.

Good habits are hard to develop, and bad habits are even harder to break.

Over the course of the past month, the Wings have fallen into bad habits that have cost them games.

Falling into a rut of poor penalty-killing and shaky goaltending now might not mean much in terms of overall success.

However, if these things continue to be a problem, the Wings will not go as far as many people think they can in the playoffs, even if they return to good health.

Yes, it's only mid-January, and it's only the Blue Jackets. However, the Wings need to start firming up their game at some point; it might as well be now.

Columbus' season may be slipping away, but beating the Red Wings is still going to be a big feather in their cap.

Tonight, Detroit must feel the same way about them.

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