In Detroit, in a back and forth contest between the Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets, the Wings rallied back from a 3-2 deficit to take a 5-4 win in a Saturday matinee.
“We had a great start, and I was happy with our whole 60 minutes,” Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said. “It was a very complete game for us.”
Alex DeBrincat and Daniel Sprong struck in the middle frame to give the Red Wings a 4-3 lead over Columbus.
In the third, Jake Walman scored at 2:33 to extend the Detroit advantage to 5-3.
That proved to be the game-winner when Patrik Lane scored at 11:30 of the third to trim the deficit to 5-4.
For Laine, it was is 200th career NHL goal. It was his first game back to the bench after missing nine games for an injury.
“It took two periods before I stopped feeling rusty,” Laine said. “My hands weren’t working and I was thinking too much.”
Ville Husso made 18 saves to protect the tenuous lead in the 5-4 final.
Detroit improved to 8-5-2.
Detroit had taken a 2-0lead in the first period before yielding three straight strikes to the Blue Jackets.
Lucas Raymond and Robby Fabbri were the first period strikers for Detroit.
“We have all seen how hard [Fabbri] has worked to come back from injuries and get back onto the ice,” Detroit’s Jeff Petry said. “This is his first game back in the building and he gets a big goal and blocks a huge shot at the end.”
Columbus rallied with two before the end of the first.
“We have to find a way to get some points,” Blue Jackets’ Zach Werenski said. “There are obviously some good things we can take away from this game, but we need points in the standings.”
Alexandre Texier scored off a breakaway at 5:33 to rim the deficit to 2-1.
“At the 9:43 mark of the first period, we were 0-for-9 on face-offs, and at the next TV timeout, we were 1-for-12,” Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent said. “When you start the game chasing the puck against a very skilled team, it is going to hurt you.”
Adam Fantilli sent the match to the middle frame tied 2-2 when he added a marker at 18:14.
Columbus dropped to 4-7-3.
“If you look at the NHL nowadays, you see you can come back from being down one or even two goals,” Vincent said. “But you can give a lead away, too.”
Columbus has lost four straight.
“To get the result tonight was the No. 1 priority for today and then to go back home, spend a little time with the family and get on the plane,” Petry said. “Looking forward to the trip but at the same time, there’s two important games that we are playing over there.”
In the middle frame, Columbus grabbed a 3-2 lead on a strike from Sean Kuraly at 5:41.
“Along with the starts to the game, getting to the net and getting in front of the goalie’s eyes was an emphasis we had going into tonight,” Fabbri said “So being able to get a few dirty (goals) like that in a game where they were scoring as well definitely helped us.”
Spencer Martin made 23 saves in the loss.
You must be logged in to post a comment.