(Sports Network) - Aiming to lock down the top seed in the Western Conference the Detroit Red Wings will try to get back on the winning track this afternoon, as they visit the Columbus Blue Jackets and Nationwide Arena.

Detroit had won five straight until Saturday's 3-1 setback to Nashville. The Red Wings, who have already clinched the Central Division, lead San Jose by eight points for the best mark in the conference.

Detroit has played one more game than the Sharks, who host Edmonton tonight.

Niklas Kronwall scored the lone goal against Nashville for Detroit, with Johan Franzen and Mikael Samuelsson getting the assists. Chris Osgood stopped 24- of-26 shots in defeat, while Franzen now has six goals and three assists over a six-game point streak.

Pavel Datsyuk leads Detroit with 55 assists and 83 points, but had an eight- game point streak halted in the loss. He had seven goals and four assists during that run.

The Red Wings are 22-10-4 on the road this year, but have dropped six of their last eight as the visiting club.

The Blue Jackets have lost four of their last five games and sit nine points out of a playoff spot with 11 games remaining. Columbus was last in action on Friday, falling to Chicago, 6-3.

Rick Nash scored his team-high 36th goal in his first game since being named team captain. Adam Foote had held the honor until getting traded to Colorado at the deadline. Nash became the fifth captain in team history, joining Lyle Odelein, Ray Whitney, Luke Richardson and Foote.

Nash leads the Blue Jackets in scoring this year against Detroit, posting three goals and five assists in four games. Nikolai Zherdev has three goals and three helpers in four tests against them.

Fredrik Modin and Dan Fritsche also scored for the Blue Jackets against Chicago. Pascal Leclaire allowed three goals on six shots before he was lifted in favor of Fredrik Norrena, who finished the game with 16 saves.

Columbus is 1-1-1 so far on a five-game homestand that concludes versus Calgary on Tuesday. The Blue Jackets have lost eight of their last nine as the home team and are 17-11-7 as the host overall this season.

The Red Wings and Blue Jackets have split four meetings this year, with each club also posting a shootout win. Detroit has won six of 10 and nine of the last 14 matchups, including three of its last five in Columbus.

These two clubs will meet three times over the next seven days, as they will also battle Wednesday in Detroit and Saturday in Columbus. Datsyuk has three goals and two assists versus the Blue Jackets this season.