This may be the appetizer for the main course on Saturday, but both teams entered this one with something to lose occupying the two Eastern Wild Card spots.
First Period
Early on it was easy to see the difference in the style of play of these two teams. Columbus plays a much faster and more direct type of game and they created a few chances early on because of it. Fantilli rang one of the post and Marchenko was visible hounding Red Wings players on the back check. Detroit settled into the game midway through the period and sought to slow the pace down and hold on to the puck in the offensive zone.
A Kuraly trip gave the league’s best PP their first chance thirteen minutes in. Detroit spent most of the PP in the offensive zone, but the PK held. CBJ had their first power play chance late in the period but with little success.
The first twenty ended in a scoreless tie, Cam Talbot was a large part why.
Second Period
Sillinger did not come out of the locker room to start the second period. He was part of an awkward collision in the first and took a few shifts after it, but was ruled out after the 1st intermission. Jenner assumed his 2nd line center duties with JVR getting moved up. This new line started the period to poor results. A neutral zone turnover led to a Red Wing rush, Tarasov made the initial save on DeBrincat but Detroit recovered the rebound and Compher feathered a back door pass to DeBrincat to open the scoring
DET Goal 0-1 DeBrincat (Compher) 00:27
Marchenko and Fantilli immediately followed the goal with a contested rush opportunity but Talbot stood strong.
Four minutes in, the new second line had a nice offensive shift ending with JVR tipping yet another shot behind a goaltender. Boone Jenner with the secondary helper to remain a point per game player since returning from injury.
CBJ Goal 1-1 JVR (Christiansen, Jenner) 4:16
The momentum had shifted to all Columbus at this point. A few long shifts in the Detroit zone led to chances leaking through Talbot but not into the not until the third line scored a bit over halfway in. An Olivier shot off the rush was tipped into the air by Talbot where Kuraly gloved it down towards the net, before he batted it in with his stick. The ref initially waved off the goal, but Kuraly knew it was good and wasted no time or energy in celebrating. A quick discussion confirmed Kuraly was in the right. LaBate gets his first NHL point with the second helper.
CBJ Goal 2-1 Kuraly (Olivier, LaBate) 9:43
Shortly after the Kuraly goal, the new 2nd line struck again on a nasty redirect of a Fabbro point shot by KJ.
CBJ Goal 3-1 KJ (Fabbro, Jenner) 12:08
How about another point for the Captain? With four and half minutes remaining, Jenner got the puck behind the Detroit net and waited for someone to challenge him. No one did and he fed a nice pass to a net front JVR for his second of the night.
CBJ Goal 4-1 JVR (Jenner, KJ) 15:01
Detroit went back on the Power Play thanks to a Severson hook late in the period. It took Detroit all of 7 seconds to convert when the puck found JT Compher alone in the slot.
Det PP Goal 4-2 Compher (Berggren, Gustafsson) 16:39
A wild period dominated by the Jackets featuring 6 total goals.
Third Period
Detroit got an early power play 3 minutes in on a Provorov hold in the defensive zone. Tarasov made a few great saves before the Detroit power play ended when Mateychuk was tripped up.
Twenty seconds of 4v4 before the second CBJ PP chance of the evening. A solid man advantage try from the CBJ featured several shots from Fantilli, unfortunately only a few made it to the net and none got through Talbot.
Sharply contrasting Kuraly’s first goal, a wide Christiansen shot bounced off the back wall and back to the side of the net where Kuraly kicked it in with his skate. This one was originally called a goal but a quick review showed a distinct kicking motion and was overturned. Kuraly knew the whole time as he didn’t celebrate this one at all.
Cam Talbot to the bench with three and a half minutes to create a 6 on 5 for the Red Wings. A lot of zone time from Detroit but great defensive structure and a few key faceoff wins from Boone Jenner eventually leads to a diving empty net goal for Kirill Marchenko.
CBJ EN Goal 5-2 Marchenko (Fantilli) 19.03
Final Thoughts
What a way to setup the big one on Saturday. Often these outdoor games feel like spectacles that also have a hockey game, but the Columbus win tonight tied these teams in the standings.
Sad to lose Cole Sillinger to an upper body injury, but the JVR-Jenner-KJ line was phenomenal in the second period generating three goals to blow this game open. Sean Kuraly had one of his best nights of the season creating (positive) chaos all over the ice and scoring one (two) goals. Voronkov was strangely quiet in this game, and Fantilli had a tough time hitting the net but Marchenko was his rock star self and his effort on the empty net goal was stellar.
The defense as a whole had no stand out performances but was very effective at moving the puck up and out in transition. The only thing of note is the Christiansen/Severson pair is clearly the least preferred option, especially when defending a late lead.
Daniil Tarasov looked a little rusty early but was really good in this game. I don’t love when he handles the puck, but he was solid in this one, especially for his first start in a month.
If you look at the shot counts you might think this game was close, but Cam Talbot kept the Red Wings in this one. Per Evolving Hockey at all situations, the Jackets won the xG battle 7.49-2.12. Detroit will have learned something about the Blue Jackets in this one, let’s see if they can match their level on Saturday.
Up Next
A full day of activities at Ohio Stadium for the Stadium Series Event here’s a tweet with some helpful times as we celebrate hockey in central Ohio.