Easy goals and plenty of speed gave the Blue Jackets a comfortable win at Joe Louis Arena. The Red Wings goaltender chance didn’t help leading them to a 4-1 loss Friday night. The victory was Columbus’s fifth in a row bringing an end to Detroit’s two game winning streak.
The Red Wings remained on a winning streak since their comeback in Winnipeg that secured another victory in a shootout. Further good news came to Detroit with Andreas Anthanasiou back in the lineup after being injured over the last month. His young presence should help the Red Wings stay strong on offense. Mrazek got another start for Detroit going against a tough Columbus team that has won its last four straight. With the matchup against a former division rival, Detroit needed the home advantage to come through quickly and swiftly against Columbus.
The Red Wings had a good start off the faceoff with Anthony Mantha and captain Henrik Zetterberg on a scoring chance. Though they didn’t get it done, Detroit earned a power play that didn’t go as expected. A shot in the Columbus zone bounced back hard enough to get into the possession of the opposition. It was a breakaway by Cam Atkinson that allowed him to score one shorthanded giving the Blue Jackets the all-important lead. It was his ninth of the season and the second while down a man.
They continued to have control of the game and puck possession against Detroit who were trailing in more ways than one. By the final minutes, the Red Wings got a burst of speed that had them blasting the puck at Sergei Bobrovsky in net for Columbus facing plenty of pressure. He saw 11 shots from Detroit but did not allow a goal that left his team ahead after 20 minutes. In the first period, the Blue Jackets have outscored opponents 26-11 since their season began.
The Red Wings wanted to make things even going into the second period showing that they were heating up early. Columbus allowed Detroit a second chance on the power play hoping to prevent another mistake. Tomas Vanek took a centering shot that got deflected away from the net. It was there that Dylan Larkin shot a one-timer scoring Detroit’s first power play goal since Nov. 29. Larkin notched his ninth while Columbus allowed a PP goal in four straight games.
Things got heated between the teams as Steve Ott smashed right winger Josh Anderson into the boards. Scott Hartnell went after the veteran for the hit send the two into a punching match sending fans into a frenzy. After the conclusion of the lengthy bout, the two went to the box for matching fighting majors.
The Blue Jackets regained the lead on an unusual occurrence in the Detroit end. Mrazek made a stop on Columbus putting a lock on the puck believing the play would end. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case as Brandon Dubinsky easily scored his third. Detroit’s unofficial protests went unheard by officials leaving the Blue Jackets to continue where they left off.
Another one went in for Columbus on a bad miss for Mrazek who missed catching the puck by inches. The bounce off his glove let Lukus Sedlak score there second unanswered and his first of the year. It was enough for coach Jeff Blashill to pull his netminder from the ice and bring in Jimmy Howard to finish up the game. Howard returned for the first time in a month after dealing with a lower body injury.
With the veteran between the pipes, it sent a push for the Red Wings to bring together offensive support for their team. Detroit took close shots in the Blue Jackets zone but couldn’t bring the reel in the score. Three minutes remained on the clock with Columbus fighting the Red Wings that saw them clearing out the trouble. They took a few more in the final minute but Bobrovsky kept tight on defense keeping his team two goals up after 40 minutes.
Columbus was completely running the third stopping the Red Wings from scoring any goals while keeping up with their pace of shooting the puck. Detroit outshot the Blue Jackets but their attempts on Bobrovsky were still going unanswered with time quickly falling off the clock. It was becoming a tough hill to climb for Detroit who were still down two goals and finding very little opportunities. More came with three minutes left as Howard left the net to give the Red Wings six attackers.
The Red Wings brought all their best onto the ice with each getting their turns to make something of the game that was left. Gaining their own rebounds didn’t help the effort as Bobrovsky remained a tough one to break. To make matters worse, the Blue Jackets scored their third straight sliding the puck down the ice where they made it into the empty net. Credit went to Sam Gagner for his 11th to put the nail in the coffin. Detroit watched the clock come to a close falling under the pressure for a regulation loss.
Despite carrying a heavy heart, the Red Wings would get Saturday off to prepare for an early Sunday evening match against the Philadelphia Flyers.
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