Blue Jackets, Red Wings have made Stadium Series matchup matter

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Patrick Kane has played in six NHL outdoor games in his career. Have any of them been as important and impactful on the standings and the Stanley Cup Playoff race as his seventh will be?

"Probably not," the Detroit Red Wings forward said.

That's because none of the NHL's previous 42 outdoor games -- including the six Kane played with the Chicago Blackhawks -- have paired two teams situated in the standings the way the Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets are going into the 2025 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series game at Ohio Stadium on Saturday (6 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, Disney+, TVAS-D, FX-CA).

It will be the first outdoor game to feature two teams tied for the same spot in a playoff race after the midpoint of the season.

The Red Wings and Blue Jackets each have 66 points in 59 games, tied for the first wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference. The Blue Jackets pulled into a tie with the Red Wings by defeating them 5-2 at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday.

This is also the first time in nearly 11 years, since April 13, 2014, that Detroit and Columbus are both in a playoff position this late into the season.

"It adds the realization that this game means a lot more than just a spectacle," Red Wings goalie Cam Talbot said. "I think it'll bring out the best in everybody, the competitors. Tomorrow is not just another game. When the puck drops it means two points and it could mean the difference between making the playoffs and not making the playoffs. That should bring out the competitor in everyone."

The 2015 Stadium Series game was close in impact on the standings and playoff race.

It featured the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California on Feb. 21, 2015. The Sharks were second in the wild-card race in the Western Conference and the Kings were two points behind them.

Los Angeles won 2-1 in front of 70,205. Todd McLellan, now the coach of the Red Wings, was the Sharks coach at the time. Both teams ended up making the playoffs.

"We're at a point in our season where these are huge games and this is going to be a big game for both teams with playoff races coming down to the wire," Blue Jackets forward Sean Kuraly said. "Obviously, it's a big game in and of itself but that extra layer adds even more to it."

It was hard, if not impossible, to see the impact of this game coming a little more than two months ago.

The Blue Jackets were in a better spot than the Red Wings coming out of the Christmas break, but they were still a team with 34 points in 35 games. That was obviously not a sustainable pace to be relevant in the playoff race coming into March.

The Red Wings had 30 points in 34 games, next to last in the conference, just two points ahead of the Buffalo Sabres. That was when they made the coaching change, from Derek Lalonde to McLellan the day after Christmas.

Both teams were far enough out of it that it didn't look promising for the Stadium Series game to have much meaning beyond the event itself.

But the Red Wings are second in the NHL in points percentage since the Christmas break at .720 (17-6-2). The Blue Jackets are fifth at .667 (15-7-2).

"It's nice we've turned it around, and it makes this game that much more fun," Red Wings forward Alex DeBrincat said.

Players from both teams talk about how unwavering belief got them to this point where the game has so much meaning, where their season still has so much meaning.

"The beginning of the season wasn't anywhere close to where it needed to be," Red Wings forward J.T. Compher said. "Todd has come in and given us good direction and challenged us where we need to be challenged. The guys responded. He's pushed some of the right buttons, but the guys have responded. A lot of guys have stepped up and played better hockey, played better team hockey. It's resulted in a bunch more wins."

The Blue Jackets also credit the unity in their room, how close they've become this season.

They don't want to trivialize a tragedy, but forward Adam Fantilli did say teammate Johnny Gaudreau's death on Aug. 29 brought them together, and that playing for his memory has made them even tighter on the ice.

"We continue to believe in ourselves, believe in each other, believe in what we have in our locker room," Fantilli said. "I think it's helped so much this season."

The Red Wings expected to be in playoff contention after barely missing the playoffs last season, tying the Washington Capitals for the second wild-card spot with 91 points but losing out on a tiebreaker with the Capitals' advantage in regulation wins.

One more point would have gotten them in.

"Every season you want to improve and when you miss the playoffs by a point the only way to improve is to make the playoffs," Compher said. "Early in the season it didn't seem like this would be quite as possible as it is now, but we never lost the belief."

The Blue Jackets just hoped they would be relevant at this point.

"That was our goal after some injuries early on was to play meaningful hockey at the Stadium Series," Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski said, "and that's exactly what we're doing."

And now they've both reached a point in the season that they targeted, the Stadium Series game, with 90,000 fans expected to pack into Ohio Stadium. It will be the second largest crowd for a single game in NHL history.

The event will have more of a lasting impact on the organizations, the fans, the city of Columbus. To the players, though, the fact that they've earned the right to call this a big game beyond the scope of the event adds to the spectacle and brings them into a comfort zone.

"First goal for us is to win, take the two points," Columbus forward Kirill Marchenko said. "It's important. It's a game. It's about standings. It's about the win. After that it's about the atmosphere."