Red Wings-Blue Jackets quick take: Wings win a wild 5-4 victory over Columbus

The Detroit Red Wings embarked upon a modest road trip in the Buckeye State on Thursday night, facing off against the 16-16-and-4 Columbus Blue Jackets. The Wings were hoping to earn their third straight win against a streaking Columbus team.

On Thursday evening, the Red Wings did anything but win conventionally, but they earned a 5-4 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets, and head into Winnipeg with a 3-and-1 record under coach McLellan.

Patrick Kane, Erik Gustafsson and Alex DeBrincat rallied Detroit from a 1-0 deficit to take a 3-1 lead, Detroit lost that lead, Larkin helped the Wings push ahead 4-3 with a PPG at 4:54 of the 3rd, James van Riemsdyk scored a contested marker with 2:41 remaining, and the Wings challenged the goal–and lost–but Jonatan Berggren raced out of the penalty box and scored the gamer with 36 seconds remaining, finishing a wild 5-4 game.

Detroit went 2-for-3 in 3:03 of PP time, killed 1 of 2 Blue Jackets power plays, and Cam Talbot may have given up 4 goals on 25 shots, but he was excellent–as were the Wings, when they did not sit on their lead, at least.

In pregame warmups, Cam Talbot led the Red Wings onto the ice at Nationwide Arena:

The Blue Jackets’ lineup remained in an 11-forwards-and-7-defensemen configuration…

And the Red Wings lined up as listed by the team’s Twitter/X account:

The starters and scratches were as follows:

In the 1st period, the Red Wings went strength for strength, starting Veleno, Larkin and Raymond up front and Chiarot and Seider on defense opposite the Blue Jackets’ top line of Marchenko, Monahan and Voronkov, with 27-minute man Zach Werenski and Fabbro on defense for Columbus.

The puck hit the ice at 7:11 PM and the Red Wings mucked the faceoff back to Larkin, who blazed through center ice and dropped the puck to Veleno, whose shot was stopped by Merzlikins…

Raymond was the next target, he was stopped, and Larkin deked his way into the slot, but he was stifled by Fabbro;

Columbus skated into the Red Wings zone and Detroit was tagged for too many men on the ice after Dylan Larkin cross-checked Marchenko at 47 seconds.

On the penalty-kill, Columbus won the draw, Talbot stopped Werenski, Werenski was blocked on the rebound and the Wings cleared the puck down the ice;

Monahan marched into the Wings’ zone and cycled with Werenski and Johnson, the BLue Jackets worked the perimeter and Seider made a goal-line stop on a Werenski blueline blast;

Columbus was backing the Wings in big time, but Larkin blocked off a Blue Jackets rush, and Detroit had killed 1:30 of PK time;

Columbus then dumped and chased, but Petry sent it around and off Sillinger, Mateychuk cycled and the Blue Jackets regrettably tipped the puck into the goal off Jeff Petry’s shoulder as James van Riemsdyk scored at 2:42.

The goal was van Riemsdyk from Sillinger and Provorov at 2:42. 1-0 Columbus.

Detroit had a rough start, honestly, and they were backed in big time by the Blue Jackets’ offensive pressure on numerous occasions. The bump-up shift was a mess, and

They were also playing quite physically against Detroit, crashing, banging, obstructing and holding, and so Detroit had to spend a lot of time either getting up from hits or chasing Blue Jackets who would swipe the puck and charge up going the other way.

Detroit was definitely on its back skate over the first 5:40 of game time.

The few times that the Blue Jackets were hit by Red Wings players, they’d erupt in protest, and I guess that was to be expected.

Thankfully, Detroit was able to capitalize on a Columbus turnover that went off a Adam Fantilli to Patrick Kane, with DeBrincat shooting, Copp and Kane jabbing at the rebound, and Kane sent the puck through Elvis Merzlikins to make it 1-1 at 6:55 of the 1st period.

The goal read Kane at 6:55 of the 1st, unassisted.

Columbus’ speed and skill really impressed me, but the Red Wings were slowly gaining their legs and smarts as the period progressed, and while Columbus had the lead in terms of territorial and physical play, Detroit was beginning to chip and chase as necessary to establish possession and control in the offensive zone.

Larkin got a good chance off the rush, and Raymond tapped a puck into Merzlikins about 9:15 into the 1st;

Sillinger’s line was giving the Wings fits, however, and the Copp line seemed to have its hands full battling the son of former Red Wing Mike Sillinger;

Larkin, Veleno and Raymond blazed into the Blue Jackets’ zone, and Werenski had to block a Larkin pass that Veleno fired into Merzlikins’ crease…

And the Blue Jackets took a penalty, after a lengthy 6-on-5 for the Red Wings, with Voronkov called by the referees for tripping at 12:05.

On the Power Play, Detroit lost the initial draw and Columbus easily cleared the puck down to Seider in the Wings’ zone…

Seider dropped and went laterally with Kane, and Kane poked the puck in on Merzlikins, Johnson could not clear, Larkin cycled to Kane, then Seider, then Raymond, and the Wings worked the perimeter, but Columbus smelled it out and cleared the puck.

Berggren and the 2nd PP unit came on with 1:00 gone in the PP, and Gustafsson, Tarasenko, and Berggren worked the perimeter, but again, the Blue Jackets were able to intercept the Wings’ passes and clear their zone;

When Merzlikins tried to clear the zone himself, the Red Wings did intercept Columbus’ goaltender’s off-the-glass pass, but Detroit got tagged for a hand pass, and losing the blueline faceoff pretty much ended the power play, with the first unit back out on the ice.

As 5-on-5 play resumed, Erik Gustafsson held the puck in at the blueline, ripped a puck toward the net, and the puck went off the goalpost and in to give Erik Gustafsson his first goal of the season.

Gustafsson scored the 2-1 goal at 14:39, from Justin Holl.

Luckily, the Red Wings stopped a Sean Monahan and Mateychuk 2-on-1 that was stifled by Talbot once, then twice;

When Detroit won a faceoff in the CBJ zone, Detroit’s Compher line at least got a shot off before the Blue Jackets roared up the ice and gave Petry and Edvinsson a handful, literally and figuratively. Talbot had to make 3 or 4 stops…

And after Alex DeBrincat was tripped heavily, Sean Kuraly was called for tripping at 16:02.

And on the power play, Alex DeBrincat scored from Moritz Seider only 7 seconds into the power play. Larkin won the faceoff, Seider sent the puck down to DeBrincat and he shoveled the puck in past Merzlikins.

DeBrincat scored the 3-1 goal at 17:09 from Seider and Larkin. Power play goal.

Columbus’ red-and-white-and-blue-and-red crowd was in a bad, bad mood as the Blue Jackets attempted to respond, and the Blue Jackets themselves presented impressive speed skating up and down the ice, with and without the puck.

In front of the Red Wings’ bench, Olivier and Seider got into a scrap, but they chose to not drop gloves with only 30 seconds remaining in the 1st…

And that was pretty much that.

In the 2nd period, Larkin and Monahan dialed in for the opening faceoff, and Columbus won it, chipped to the Red Wings’ line, and Joe Veleno set up for Seider, he passed up to Raymond, and Raymond was repelled by the Blue Jackets’ defense…

But Detroit chipped and chased, Chiarot got a shot off that went wide, and Larkin nearly hammered home a shot off the back boards from Chiarot.

As the period progressed, Columbus pressed right back, but Detroit was alert, and Kane and DeBrincat nearly converted 2:30 in, with DeBrincat feeding Kane on a mini 2-on-1…

Columbus fortified its board game in its own zone, but they couldn’t seem to prevent a penchant for icing the puck, and that helped the Red Wings stifle the fast-skating Blue Jackets’ momentum;

DeBrincat and Kane were really working the cycle game with Copp, too, and that was good to see.

Columbus was definitely blocking shots and passes well with active sticks and bodies in shooting lanes, but Detroit countered with active sticks and taking away Columbus’ time and space in the offensive zone, so the game became something of a defensive stalemate 8:00 into the 2nd.

By the 10-minute mark, the shots were only 3-1 Detroit in the 2nd, so the game really had sank into a defensive shell.

Sadly, off a lost faceoff, Zach Werenski got on the board with his 12th goal of the year, all off Kasper losing the faceoff and Motte actually poking the puck back to Werenski, who fired the puck through a screened Talbot.

Werenski scored at 11:09 of the 2nd, supposedly from Fantilli, who was busy holding Motte up. 3-2.

Columbus obviously got a bit of life from their goal, and as the Blue Jackets were winning a majority of the faceoffs, they were getting offensive opportunities that weren’t necessarily earned through puck play.

The period settled back into its chess-like status some 14:00 in, and it really was about which team was going to make the next mistake more than which team was going to impose its will upon the other team.

Detroit began to show signs of life about 15:30 into the 2nd, when the Kasper line generated some zone time and chaos in Columbus’ end, with Kasper, Motte and Rasmussen cycling well.

Still, it felt like a chess match as the period wound down, and when your team “sits on a lead,” that’s not a comfortable feeling.

As such, you might imagine that Columbus was going to tie the game, and with 1:20 left in the 2nd, Sean Monahan, wide open in the slot, took a pass from James van Riemsdyk and chipped the puck behind Talbot via a back-door set-up.

Monahan made it 3-3 from van Riemsdyk and Werenski.

In the 3rd period, Detroit won the initial faceoff, and pushed the puck deep into Columbus’ zone, where Larkin cycled behind the net, to Chiarot, and Larkin could not stuff the puck on Merzlikins, forcing the Wings to reset.

Columbus raced up 3-on-2 and Talbot had to stop Mateychuk from the point as he took a drop pass and ripped it on the net.

To their credit, the Blue Jackets were playing hard, skating hard, stick-checking hard and checking hard, affording them a territorial advantage against a bit of a skittish Wings team…

Detroit did play aggressively as well, but it just wasn’t with the same edge that Columbus had.

Thankfully, Dylan Larkin drew a penalty on Voronkov as the Wings’ captain was hooked staring at an open net at 3:58 of the 3rd.

On the Power Play, the Red Wings won the initial faceoff and cycled to Patrick Kane, who was stifled by Merzlikins;

Larkin won the next faceoff and Kane shot a point shot into Merzlikins, with Larkin firing the rebound off the goaltender and into Monahan, who skated up the ice and chipped a shot into Talbot, who chose to hold onto the long shot and take a defensive zone draw.

The Wings won that draw, and after a couple of drop passes, Larkin, Raymond and Seider cycled to Kane, DeBrincat stuffed it to the slot and DYLAN LARKIN SCORED THE 4-3 GOAL IN THE SLOT.

Dylan Larkin scored the 4-3 power play goal from DeBrincat and Kane at 4:54 of the 3rd.

Detroit gave up a tremendous chance, however, as Marchenko raced in and deked through Edvinsson to put the puck off the left goalpost;

Werenski was putting on a clinic as well, with Columbus’ alternate captain working his tail off while playing many minutes;

Ben Chiarot made a fine block on Sillinger after Seider accidentally turned the puck over as the Wings attempted to exit their zone;

Disturbingly, Jeff Petry blocked a shot and skated toward the bench on both skates, but bent over, slowly…And Petry went to the locker room.

Columbus seemed ready to capitalize on the Wings’ 5-man defense, but Detroit was able to at least clear their zone during some high-danger moments…

Sadly, Marco Kasper made an amazing pass to Michael Rasmussen, he tapped it back to Tyler Motte, and Merzlikins made a tremendous stop…

Detroit began to play some really smart defense, cycling the puck in Columbus’ zone as an alternative to playing defense in their own zone with about 7:00 left in the 3rd, and the further you play the puck from your own goal, the better.

Talbot still had to make some alert stops as the clock began to serve as Columbus’ worst enemy, however, and with only 5 defensemen on the ice, the Wings were making some uncharacteristic mistakes at times.

We did get to see a little Edvinsson-Seider from time to time, but the top pair mostly remained intact as the 15:00 mark passed and the Wings continued to battle Columbus tooth-and-nail.

Talbot made an astute stop on Sillinger with 3:37 left…

Sadly, the Red Wings struggled to clear the crease as Justin Holl battled James van Riemsdyk in the crease, and van Riemsdyk tapped the puck past Cam Talbot to tie the game at 4-4 with 2:41 remaining in the 3rd.

van Riemsdyk scored at 17:19 to tie the game 4-4.

The Red Wings challenged for goaltender interference, but Adam Fantilli and Werenski got assists on what was a goal per the referees.

Mysterious.

Detroit then went to a penalty-kill with 2:42 remaining, which was served by Berggren.

On the penalty-kill, Larkin, Raymond, Seider and Chiarot took to the ice together and attempted to help Talbot clear the zone, which they did, and they changed 40 seconds in….

Larkin also tried to race up 3-on-1 the wrong way, and he nearly broke through the 3 Blue Jackets defenders;

Detroit did a VERY GOOD JOB of killing the vast majority of the PK, hitting hard and blocking shots, Chiarot blocked a shot and BERGGREN SCORED THE GAME-WINNER off a fine pass from Tyler Motte with 35.1 seconds remaining.

Merzlikins exited the net and Columbus furiously attempted to tie the game, but after an icing with 10.1 left in the 3rd, Talbot made TWO STOPS and then the refs blew the whistle for a bad draw, so the Blue Jackets crowded Seider and pushed him around…

4 seconds went back on the clock, the Blue Jackets won the faceoff, and chaos ensued, including after the final whistle, but the Red Wings prevailed.

Statistics: Here are the Game Summary and Event Summary:

Published by

George Malik

My name is George Malik, and I'm the Malik Report's editor/blogger/poster. I have been blogging about the Red Wings since 2006, and have worked with MLive and Kukla's Korner. Thank you for reading!

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