Red Wings rally past Columbus

In Columbus, the Blue Jackets held a 2-0 lead over the visiting Detroit Red Wings  on Friday night and then sat back watched the Wings score five unanswered goals in 5-2 decision.

Gavin Bayreuther struck in the first period, and Nathan Gerbe scored at 7:20 of the middle frame for the 2-0 lead.

“I feel like I’ve been shooting the puck a lot these past games I’ve been playing and I’m fortunate for it to finally go in,” Bayreuther said. “It’s one of the strengths of my game, getting pucks on net, getting it through the shot blockers, and it feels good to put one home tonight.

“Confidence is everything in this league. You’ve got to play. You’ve got to want the puck.”

Thomas Greiss made 22 saves in the win.

“We stayed with it. That’s the biggest thing I thought,” Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill said. “I don’t think we were good enough in the first period. Our D-zone coverage wasn’t very good. We got better as the game went along.

“This is a group that’s fought and competed on a daily basis, and it showed tonight. I like this group. There’s a lot of character in this room.”

Joe Veleno and Danny DeKeyser  scored for Detroit to get them even at 2-2.

“It obviously feels really good to have that first one go in and have it in a victory for our team, so it’s a lot of happy faces around the locker room,” Veleno said. “It feels good, but I just wanted to stay with it and be patient.”

Jakub Vrana scored the go ahead goal late in the second period.

“He’s a real talented player. That’s a fact,” Blashill said of Vrana. “He can be a real key addition. What I like best about him is he is really receptive to coaching. He wants to get better in those areas he needs to get better.”

Vladislav Namestnikov added two empty-net goals to ice the win.

“After they score a power-play goal they got some juice and then they started checking,” Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella said. “Their legs were better, they started checking.

“We turn one over and it ends up in our net. We turn another one over on a breakout, it ends up in our net after the power-play goal, and then they check the [stuff] out of us. That’s the story of the game.”

Matiss Kivlenieks made 31 saves in his first start.

“It’s a situational game and you pick your spots,” the Blue Jackets’ Nathan Gerbe said. “I think the second period was lost battles and puck possession.”