Red Wings-Blue Jackets Stadium Series quick take: Columbus steals a BS win, sweeps home-and-home series

The Detroit Red Wings ventured into the unfriendly confines of Ohio Stadium to play the back half of a home-and-home series with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night, taking part in this year’s Stadium Series game.

As hockey was played on ice built upon stadium grass, the Red Wings certainly didn’t deserve to earn two regulation points, with Cam Talbot giving up 4 goals on 20 shots against, but the way all of this unraveled, with Mateychuk opening the scoring only 5:31 in, then DeBrincat tying the game on the power play, Voronkov and Olivier cracking open the 2nd period, and Kane and DeBrincat making it close…

Only to see Justin Danforth high-stick Simon Edvinsson, and in one motion, skate in and get the rebound goal on Talbot to make it 4-3…

Ultimately, Columbus would win 5-3, take the Stadium Series at the Smelly Shoe, and earn 4 points to push past the Wings in the Eastern Conference Wild Card standings…

But this is just despicable, and I may be biased, but if Dylan Larkin did this to a Blue Jacket, I would not be laughing and cheering:

In pregame warmups, it was hard to see, but it appeared that Elvis Merzlikins and Cam Talbot led their respective teams out onto the ice at Ohio Stadium..

The Blue Jackets are all about interactive graphics, so…

The Red Wings revealed their lineup just before game time…

The starters and scratches were as follows:

In the 1st period, Columbus started Dmitri Voronkov, Adam Fantilli and Kirill Marchenko up front, with Zach Werenski and Dante Fabbro on defense, and Elvis Merzlikins in goal;

Detroit started Lucas Raymond, Dylan Larkin and Marco Kasper up front, with Ben Chiarot and Moritz Seider on defense, and Cam Talbot in goal.

Larkin drew in vs. Fantilli for the opening faceoff, and there was a delay for TV, so the Blue Jackets won the draw and chipped and chased vs. Chiarot, Marchenko fired wide, Kasper bumped a Blue Jacket and Detroit cleared as Raymond fed Chiarot up the gut, back to Kasper, up for Larkin around the back boards but Werenski is there, hit by Larkin, sent through the slot, Seider drops for Larkin a trip but he stays up…

Johansson chips and Detroit changes at 48 seconds of the 1st.

Edvinsson holds the line deep for Compher but Mateychuk skates away into the Wings’ end, Edvinsson carries to the offensive zone, Kane, DeBrincat and Compher lose control, Columbus Jenner sends around the back boards, reverse to Johnson, van Riemsdyk to Jenner shot wide, Detroit chips in…

Soderblom can’t take, so Seider sets up for Soderblom and Tarasenko, but the Blue Jackets ice it at 2:08.

Veleno, Motte and Fischer draw in and win the draw, line shot blocked wide, Motte jams, Fischer loses his stick, Berggren to Motte shot stopped, and the Blue Jackets skate out and chip deep for Talbot to Gustafsson, around the boards to the blueline held in COlumbus, reverse Werenski, Wings take over.

Detroit dumps and chases as Berggren is bumped, and the Blue Jackets can’t beat Seider, so Kasper gets a shot off, then Larkin from Seider…

3:18 1st period, and we are underway and all four lines have rotated.

Raymond races in, stopped Merzlikins;

Seider and Raymond can’t hold, however, so Columbus relieves pressure 3:45 in.

DeBrincat is hit heavily but avoids a Blue Jacket, and he gets back up and fires a gorgeous little turnover into a scoring chance that Merzlikins stops.

4:30 into the 1st, Detroit presses, with Tarasenko firing wide, Holl can’th old, Jenner stood up by Gustafsson, Holl jams for Gustafsson, reverse Veleno…

Anyway, Columbus did its best to pressure Detroit by standing up at center ice, and it worked pretty well, but not in terms of shots for.

Raymond deked around a Blue Jackets defender but was stood up, and a Larkin hit yielded a turnover at center for Edvinsson, who swept the puck through the crease to Larkin, he reversed, and Merzlikins got help with that one.

As the 7-minute mark passed, Detroit was doing a good job of shutting down the “house” in front of Talbot, but Columbus was building momentum in its own zone, and adjusting to the outdoor rink’s confines and restrictions…

So Talbot stopped a shot from the left half boards, Jenner worked it down low and back to the point and Seider chipped, but the Jackets held, and the puck went laterally through the crease but no Blue Jacket was there…

And Talbot made a NICE STOP on van Riemsdyk before Seider and Jenner discussed the Gretzky issue.

Detroit was out-shooting Columbus 8-2 at the first TV timeout at 8:16, but no goals for is a dangerous thing to play with.

The game was a little simpler on the stiff, cold ice, and the puck would skitter along the ice away from players’ sticks…

Gustafsson was hitting quite hard and he and Veleno delivered a couple of crushing hits to Blue Jackets in Detroit territory some 9:00 in…

Berggren was tripped up again sans a penalty, just south of the 10-minute mark, but the Red Wings continued to play through it.

DeBrincat set up Kane from the point to the side of the net, no dice, and then Fantilli and Marchenko worked together for a slot chance that Talbot stopped…

Before Voronkov came in and tried to stir up shit by hacking Talbot, which yielded a gathering of the clans at 10:40 of the 1st.

When play resumed, the screen was split for an interview with a football person I didn’t recognize, and Talbot made a huge stop in the slot.

Detroit was having more and more trouble getting up the ice, however, and so DeBrincat and Kane tried for a cutesy play and that nearly cost Detroit a 3-on-2 chance against…

Compher and Kane weren’t quite able to beat Merzlikins on a 2-on-1;

Elmer Soderblom deked, dangled and tried to center the puck to Tarasenko, and Gustafsson was hit, so Soderblom took some revenge as the game became hard-hitting.

13:00 into the 1st period, it felt like the first goal might win the game.

Fischer, Motte and Berggren had a good shift thereafter, and Raymond blazed through center, but was stood up, and Ben Chiarot got a good point shot off that Ivan Provorov didn’t like Marco Kasper being in the vicinity of, so there was more pushing and shoving after the whistle at 13:59.

Moritz Seider made a TERRIBLE turnover to Marchenko and Fantilli, but they fired the puck wide of Talbot, Talbot stopped the next shot from Werenski, and Detroit iced the puck with 5:27 remaining.

Columbus was getting away with a lot of shit as Kent Johnson blasted a shot wide of an out-of-kilter Talbot as the Blue Jackets flexed with 15:00 gone in the 1st, and Seider blocked a Johnson shot on the next rush…

Columbus pushed back to an 11-6 shot deficit by the 15:35 mark, and Detroit’s start-of-the-game energy had dissipated, as had the coverage, given all the small-split-screen interviews with football players and football commentators, so it was hard to see what was happening at times.

Fischer got a good shot off on Merzlikins and the rebound went to Justin Holl, that was blasted into Merzlikins as well…

Gustafsson was REALLY crashing and banging as well, impressively so, as the 1st period began to wind down.

Kane sent a pass off Merzlikins as well, with about 17:50 gone, and after Compher sent a long shot in, DeBrincat and Provorov discussed whether red or blue is a better color.

DeBrincat was then dumped away from play by Provorov, sans a call, and it was truly interference…

Again, the period was winding down to its final couple of minutes, and Columbus was showing its ability to pressure the Red Wings and out-physically-play them, standing up to Detroit at center ice and…

Hacking and whacking and clutching and grabbing a lot, honestly.

The first period ended at 7:10 PM, EST, scoreless.

In the 2nd period, Larkin drew in for the opening faceoff vs. Fantilli, and the Blue Jackets won it, chipped, but Detroit chased, Merzlikins reversed and out came the Blue Jackets, who were stifled at center ice again.

Chiarot held the puck in and sent a shot in toward Merzlikins, but he was blocked off once, then skated away from by Fantilli, and both teams changed at 46 seconds.

DeBrincat got a shot away right off the line change, from Compher, but Merzlikins made a solid stop 56 seconds in…

Compher drew in for a deep offensive zone draw but lost it, and Edvinsson had to chip the puck out of the Wings’ zone and back to center ice once, Johansson helped Edvinsson the second time, and Merzlikins played the puck up the middle as Columbus chipped and chased 1:35 in…

Kane could not clear, so Johansson chased Johnson, Detroit cleared and changed as best they could, and DeBrincat could not clear, so Edvinsson battled his way to a DeBrincat clear-and-change at 2:04.

Out long, Johansson lost a Blue Jacket and they set up at the blueline, with a puck rolling in on Talbot at 2:22.

The Veleno line came out with Tarasenko and Soderblom, and they were at least able to clear the zone, but the puck rolled out into the benches, and a second faceoff was held at the Wings’ line, Columbus won it, and they crashed and banged their way toward some momentum until Seider and Soderblom cleared the zone.

Again, Columbus stood up at center ice, and pushed deep into Detroit’s zone, with Provorov pinching vs. Veleno, and Soderblom clearing the zone enough to get a partial change at 3:22.

Larkin came on, rimmed the puck around the back boards to Soderblom, and he reversed and got off the ice.

Kasper and Raymond joined the fray as the Blue Jackets’ Fantilli line got a shot off, with Holl and Gustafsson trying to establish a physical presence, and Marchenko got a good scoring chance on Talbot…

And Detroit gorfled up a 4-on-2 as Werenski expertly stopped that block.

Kane then fired a shot in on Merzlikins at 4:43, but Merzlikins made a good stop;

Kane and Compher and DeBrincat and Edvinsson worked the cycle next, and Johansson helped but pinched, got back, and did a fine job of clearing the net front…

But Columbus’ Mateychuk was able to score the 1-0 goal at 5:31 as the Kane line got hemmed in, Mateychuk skated in and sent the puck through Simon Edvinsson’s legs and over Talbot’s glove as Talbot over-committed.

Mateychuk scored from Jenner and van Riemsdyk at 5:31. 1-0 Columbus.

Again, Columbus was getting the better of the chances, and they converted upon one of their chances as the Wings lost their structure.

The bump-up shift was not a very good one, and Holl and Gustafsson had to set up for Berggren, Motte and Fischer, who did not see much of the puck as Columbus iced the puck.

As play continued, Johansson tried to flitter a puck toward Merzlikins through traffic, and it was blocked out of play.

When play resumed after a TV timeout, more split screen and general commentary made it hard to follow who was whom in terms of the Blue Jackets…

But Larkin raced up the left wing, fed Kasper for a shot off the side of the goal , and the Blue Jackets carried the puck through center and dumped and changed at 8:00…

DeBrincat reversed a shot through the crease a few seconds later, Kane was dumped, Compher sent a shot wide, DeBrincat fed Johansson for Kane, but he lost control of the puck at center ice.

Detroit could not take advantage of a long shift for Werenski and the Jenner line, and so the Veleno line came onto the ice and forechecked, but accomplished little otherwise.

Too much passing, a lot of lateral shit.

Columbus, to their credit, was cycling well and pushing the puck deep into Detroit’s zone and staying there, causing havoc and working the perimeter.

The 10:00 mark passed, the 11:00 mark passed, and Columbus was standing up at center ice, forcing Detroit to play south of the Blue Jackets’ blueline, but Larkin did get a wraparound attempt that was stopped…

And after tagging up, Larkin got another shot off that Merzlikins stopped.

Talbot made a really nice stop on Kirill Marcheko and the Wings charged up on the delayed penalty, after Chiarot got hit in the face, but Merzlikins stopped Compher.

Columbus’ Dante Fabbro dumped DeBrincat at 12:18, and he sat for interference.

On the power play, ESPN interviewed OAR, so Larkin lost the draw but Detroit tried to keep the puck in through center ice, Seider set up and DeBrincat fed Raymond lw side, he reversed twice, both to Blue Jackets players, and Columbus cleared with 1:30 left PP.

Raymond dropped to DeBrincat up for Kane drop DeBrincat to Larkin for Seider point for Kane rt side to the slot and DEBRINCAT STUFFED IT HOME.

Alex DeBrincat scored at 13:08 to make it 1-1 on the power play. Net-front jam, from Kane and Seider.

On the bump-up shift, Edvinsson sent a shot in and out of Merzlikins’ glove…

And the Wings at least had some “oomph” in their strides after the goal.

Off a turnover, Moritz Seider sent a smart shot on Merzlikins, but Columbus walked the other way vs. the Larkin line, which stood up at the Wings’ blueline and at least were not a defensive liability.

14:39 into the 2nd period, play resumed with Columbus chipping, but Detroit not affording them the chase, and Kane and DeBrincat got bumped off the puck, so Johnson sent a shot in that was expertly deflected by Gustafsson, who was great on the night.

As the period began to wind down, the game got a little simpler, and again, there was a lot of interference and outright obstruction, but the refs were “letting ’em play,” so Detroit did its best…

But Marchenko sent a pass to Fantilli, and he hit the goalpost behind Talbot as the Wings got caught flat-footed defensively…

And Moritz Seider was then called for a stupid trip at 17:15…

And on the power play, Columbus won the deep zone faceoff, they worked the umbrella, Werenski fed Johnson to Voronkov, and he tipped the puck into the net through Cam Talbot.

Voronkov scored from Johnson and Werenski at 17:23, PPG. 2-1 Columbus, another net-front jam.

On the bump-up shift, the Red Wings continued to stand around, and Mathieu Olivier very easily scored at 17:55 to make it 3-1 Columbus. Justin Holl just let Olivier get the puck to the net, and Holl’s stick tipped the puck over Talbot.

Olivier scored at 17:55 from Danforth off a simple forecheck. 3-1 Columbus.

Columbus was flying with wind under its skates, and Detroit looked terrible as Columbus dominated possession and control in the final three minutes of the period, so the Larkin line tried to take command, and instead, they cycled around the perimeter, Chiarot was blocked off, and Columbus “killed off” the 2nd period.

In the 3rd period, the Red Wings really needed to get their shit together, bluntly, and the ESPN crew needed to get their heads out of the Blue Jackets’ asses.

Columbus won the opening faceoff, and Detroit tried to battle their way deep, but Kasper was bumped, Raymond reversed into a scrum, Larkin kicked, Seider pinched, and Kasper jammed, reversed for Larkin, sent deep but the Blue Jackets just chipped it out.

Chiarot dumped as the Wings changed at 55 seconds, and up came Kane, who sent a shot through Merzlikins but wide of the net…

Compher fed Edvinsson and then DeBrincat sent it to Kane off Merzlikins, Johansson to DeBrincat shot off the goalie, Edvinsson battled it to DeBrincat center point, stopped Merzlikins.

1:30 3rd as Joe Veleno was tossed from the deep offensive zone dot and Soderblom won it to Veleno, who got a shot off, and Tarasenko could not send the puck home…

But he got the puck back into the offensive zone, Gustafsson lateralled it and the Blue Jackets got away with a near-icing…

Detroit changed again and there was a DIRTY hit by Justin Danforth that yielded a hit to Elmer Soderblom’s head, helmet-to-helmet, dropping Soderblom.

And of course it’s not a penalty to pop somebody in the jaw like that.

Thankfully, Soderblom appeared to be okay, just shaken.

2:08 into the 3rd, Larkin drew in for a faceoff, Chiarot and Seider were overwhelmed but the Wings skated out to center, Kasper tapped it in and Detroit tried to maintain control but had to regroup and dump and chase…

And Kirlll Marchenko was NAILED by Ben Chiarot cleanly at the blueline, with the Blue Jackets looking for some revenge as Marchenko’s wearing a cage for a jaw injury.

Anyway, as play continued, with four lines having rotated through the ice, the Wings were dominating territorially, but the Blue jackets were closing down the “house” in front of Merzlikins, who had been excellent, and PATRICK KANE BLASTED A SHOT THROUGH A SCREEN TO STIFLE COLUMBUS’ LEAD with Compher battling a Blue Jackets defenseman. Over the pad, under the glove.

Patrick Kane made it 3-2 at 3:34. 3-2. Edvinsson and Johansson with assists.

On the bump-up shift, Veleno fed Gustafsson who fed Tarasenko and then Berggren, but Tarasenko is of course cursed, so he fanned on the shot to some extent.

Raymond, Larkin and Kasper then took to the ice and cycled, but Columbus cleared the zone and nearly sprung Zach Aston-Reese, who was lurking in the slot unchecked…

Detroit was finally simplifying its game a bit, and continuing to blast shots and attempts…

Stupidly, both Marchenko and Johansson were tied up tripping each other at 5:27, and Marchenko was called for high-sticking Johansson as the pair fell into each other.

On the power play, Columbus won the initial faceoff and dumped the puck down ice, where Seider and DeBrincat worked together to send the puck up ice, but Columbus stood up at the blueline and killed 21 seconds of the PP as a result…

Larkin lost the next draw to Jenner, and Columbus cleared its zone, with Talbot tapping it to Kane, who skated through the middle of the ice for Larkin, Seider held the line for Raymond, he fed Seider shot stopped, rebound cleared by Columbus off the Merzlikins stop.

Detroit’s 2nd unit came out and Compher fed Berggren, around the net Kasper to Tarasenko for Gustafsson, to Berggren and back, Tarasenko stopped, and up came Columbus 3 on 2…

But Berggren and Tarasenko came back to help Gustafsson.

Tarasenko walked up for Berggren, reverse for Compher from Tarasenko, and Columbus could not clear past Gustafsson, Tarasenko long shot blocked, Gustafsson shot wide, Tarasenko offside.

Detroit was leading in shots 13-1 in the 3rd period, but Merzlikins and the Blue Jackets’ defense were doing some tremendous work.

After the TV timeout, Columbus pushed into the Wings’ zone for the first time, and Talbot made a good stop…

Jenner was blockered away with 11:10 left in the 3rd…

A BEAUTIFUL tip by Compher from Holl went into Merzlikins, who did not see it, but his defenseman, Christiansen, cleared the loose biscuit;

Talbot stopped a long shot with 10:29 left;

Off a fine hit form Joe Veleno, Albert Johansson jabbed a puck through the slot, but he could not connect with a teammate;

Gustafsson continued to hit hard and hit efficiently as the 10-minute mark passed;

Talbot stopped a Fabbro blast with 9:10 left;

And Columbus began to feel its legs with 8:30 remaining, cycling hard in Detroit’s zone as the top line of Fantilli, Voronkov and Marchenko ground it out, but Seider bumped Voronkov down and helped clear the puck;

The clock was the enemy, honestly.

When play resumed with 7:50 left, Detroit’s Larkin, Raymond and Kasper tried their best to settle the puck down, but things were not going well for that line, and Columbus just kept winning 1-on-1 battles for the puck in the offensive zone.

A great block from Compher yielded a bit of a rush and a shot off Merzlikins’ pad, and when Detroit held the zone, they forced Columbus to ice it, but Edvinsson and Talbot chose to play it…

And Detroit went offside with 6:00 left in the 3rd.

Tarasenko fed Holl for a point shot that Merzlikins did not see, but he stopped it anyway…

5:24 remained, and an 18-5 shot advantage in the 3rd and a 43-18 shot advantage overall weren’t getting ‘er done.

Somehow.

A bad fall by Chiarot when play resumed yielded a chance for Voronkov that was stopped…And Talbot had to seal the puck with 5:04 remaining.

Erik Gustafsson made a terrible decision to send a pass to Compher back-door instead of shooting, and the puck just rolled away thanks to Provorov with 4:44 left in the 3rd…

Detroit was called offside with 4:16 remaining…

The Wings were also going down to 3 lines for the most part, with Berggren, Veleno and Tarasenko working together, and Soderblom, Motte and Fischer sitting…

And finally, off a mucked faceoff, Gustafsson shot, it hit DeBrincat and DeBrincat scored his 2nd goal of the game in the slot, ripping a shot through Merzlikins with 3:24 remaining, tying the game 3-3.

With Zach Werenski screening his own goalie, DeBrincat scored the 3-3 marker at 16:36 from Gustafsson and Kane. 3-3.

As the clock wound down toward zeroes, Talbot made a HUGE stop but sadly, Justin Danforth high-sticked Edvinsson in the face and then scored on the rebound of a shot on Talbot to make it 4-3.

Danforth from Aston-Reese and Provorov at 17:43 of the 3rd, 4-3 Columbus.

Columbus won the next two draws, pinned Detroit in its own zone, and Talbot exited the crease with 1:40 left.

ON the 6 on 5, Raymond gave the puck up, Werenski fed Jenner, and he sent it wide of the goal, affording Detroit a rush…

So Raymond shanked it wide again, Columbus had a 3-on-2, and they put it off the post until Adam Fantilli made it 5-3.

Fantilli from Werenski and Jenner at 18:52, 5-3.

Statistics: Here are the Game Summary and Event Summary:

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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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