Red Wings rout Blue Jackets

A four game point streak added some confidence to the Columbus Blue Jackets as the Detroit Red Wings came to town. Unfortunately, the point streak came to an end as the Jackets returned to their old defensive ways. The Columbus offense cooling off didn’t help either. Here’s what happened.

1st Period

A back and forth start to the game showed an even contest early. The Jackets got the first crack at tilting the ice when Bertuzzi hooked Bemstrom right before the first TV timeout. They weren’t able to capitalize, but they managed to generate a few chances.

Olivier went to the box for cross checking shortly after the power play expired. Some very nice passing by Detroit led to them taking the 1-0 lead. Larkin was able to snap a loose puck in the slot past Korpisalo.

DET PP Goal 1-0: Larkin (Perron, Seider) 9:58

Neither team had much going the rest of the period in terms of high danger chances. Husso stoned Sillinger on a breakaway in what was the best look of the period for the Jackets. The home team actually dominated 5v5 in terms of shot attempts, but most felt low quality. The Red Wings held a 4-2 advantage in high danger chances through the first period.

2nd Period

Jenner redeemed his bad first period to start the second. Gaudreau passed it to him in the neutral zone and a toe drag around the Red Wing defender opened up a pass to Bemstrom to tie up the game.

CBJ Goal 1-1: Bemstrom (Jenner, Gaudreau) 0:43

The Red Wings took back the lead on the forecheck. A bad team effort turnover led to a one-time slapshot in the slot that Korpisalo had no chance at.

DET Goal 2-1: Hronek (unassisted) 6:35

Detroit struck again just past the halfway point. Chiarot took a long shot from the blue line and a screened Korpisalo never saw it coming.

DET Goal 3-1: Chiarot (Raymond, Copp) 10:45

The Red Wings continued to dominate the second period. Late in the period, Hronek got his second of the night off of a nice Larkin feed.

DET Goal 4-1: Hronek (Larkin, Seider) 17:02

The Jackets want to forget that period. Turnovers, open passing lanes, and own goalie screens allowed the Red Wings to take a big lead.

3rd Period

Things continued downhill for the Jackets. Back-to-back penalty kills resulted in another power play goal for the Red Wings.

DET PP Goal 5-1: Kubalik (Seider, Larkin) 5:21

The drubbing did not let up from there. A bouncing puck found Bertuzzi’s stick right next to Korpi.

DET Goal 6-1: Bertuzzi (Copp, Raymond) 9:04

Mercifully, the game would finally end. Not much to talk about in regards to the last two periods. The Jackets were bad and got outplayed.

Final Thoughts

A better opponent helped return the Jackets to their old ways. They simply couldn’t keep up. Bad defense and an inability to generate quality chances doomed them in this one. The bad habits didn’t die over the last week, they simply hid themselves a bit against lesser opponents.

Larsen continues to deploy this roster in odd ways. Johnson was stapled to Gaunce all game and there is still a refusal to break up Jenner and Gaudreau. Yes, Jenner generated a goal on a great individual effort, but he was bad otherwise. He and Gaudreau finished last among forwards in CF%.

This team seems to get destroyed every time they play an opponent that has a bona fide first line center. Larkin had three points on the night and dominated while on the ice.

Hats off to Korpi who did the best he could. Detroit’s expected goals for in all situations was 3.29, but that doesn’t mean that Korpi played poorly. In fact, he made several nice saves and didn’t let in any softies.

The Jackets are still dead last in goals against per game in the NHL. That’s bad news as the Panthers head to town tomorrow.

Up Next

The Panthers visit the Blue Jackets on Sunday at 6:00PM ET.