Outdoor hockey at Ohio Stadium: What to know for Blue Jackets-Red Wings game

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- After years of waiting, we are now just one day away from the first outdoor Blue Jackets game.

The Jackets will play the Detroit Red Wings at 6 p.m. Saturday at Ohio Stadium in another chapter of the NHL Stadium Series. An estimated 90,000 fans will pack the stands to watch an NHL game at the home of Buckeyes football with plenty of festivities scheduled before, during, and after the game.

But what the evening boils down to is one of the biggest Blue Jackets games of the season. They are competing for their first postseason spot in four years, and Detroit is right in the thick of that race as both teams sit in position for the wild cards in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Here is what to know about the Stadium Series game at the Horseshoe.

Blue Jackets offense is on fire

It's been a difficult few seasons for Blue Jackets hockey since the turn of the decade but fortunes have changed this season behind a talented young roster.

Coach Dean Evason and his squad are pushing for the teams' first Stanley Cup playoff spot since 2020 with an aggressive, offensive style. Leading that offense is Zach Werenski, who enters Saturday's game with a team-leading 62 points and is the top contender for the Norris Trophy, awarded to the NHL's best defenseman.

Werenski, top goal scorer Kirill Marchenko, and young stars Kent Johnson and Adam Fantilli have been instrumental in putting the Jackets as the fourth top-scoring team in the Eastern Conference. And standing in their way Saturday is a former division rival.

Red Wings returning to form

Unlike your typical Ohio State-Michigan game at Ohio Stadium, the Columbus crowd will be cheering the team in blue and booing the team in red.

Detroit comes into the Stadium Series fighting to return to relevancy as the eleven-time Stanley Cup champions are in the midst of a nine-year playoff drought. That looks likely to change as head coach Todd McLellan, who got the job in December after Derek Lalonde was fired, has turned this team around with a crop of budding talent.

Players to watch include Swedish winger Lucas Raymond, who leads the team in points (63) and assists (41), in-form right winger Alex DeBrincat and captain Dylan Larkin, who is one of a handful of Michigan alum playing on Saturday. Among other former Wolverines include Werenski, Fantilli, and Johnson.

NHL outdoor history

Saturday will be the 42nd outdoor NHL game since the league made a tradition of having at least one outdoor game since 2008. The Blue Jackets will be the 30th NHL club to play an outdoor game with the Utah Hockey Club not on that list and the Florida Panthers, who will play outdoors next season at the Miami Marlins' baseball park.

Detroit is playing outdoors for the fifth time since 2008 and have a 2-2 record in such games. One stat going the way of the Blue Jackets is true home teams have won five of the last six outdoor games. Columbus is also an impressive 19-6-4 in front of a home crowd this season.

Another area to watch is scoring. The last five outdoor NHL games have averaged 7.6 goals so we could see plenty of cannon fire at the Horseshoe on Saturday night.

Columbus is expected to pack the 'Shoe with NHL content and events president Steve Mayer estimating 90,000 fans will attend. That would make this game the second most-attended NHL game of all-time, behind the 2014 Winter Classic at Michigan Stadium (104,000).

"We fully expect this to be sold out by game time," said Mayer. "At the end of the day, that many people to watch an outdoor game is so satisfying. It shows the strength of the NHL, the Columbus Blue Jackets, and this stadium and the sports fans in Columbus."