Defensive Lapses Cost Detroit

After a come from behind victory over Edmonton, the Red Wings looked poised to pick up a big two points against a depleted Columbus squad. With Montreal losing and Tampa earning only a single point, there was an opportunity for Detroit to gain some ground in the Atlantic division after taking an early lead. Despite missing a number of top players, the Jackets battled all night and with help from Ericsson and Zidlicky, scored 3 straight goals to take a lead they would never relinquish. The result was a bad loss for Detroit who continues to give back the points earned on the West coast road trip.

After back and forth play for the first 5 minutes, Tomas Jurco was high-sticked, resulting in a 4 minute man advantage for Detroit. The PP looked much improved early, generating multiple chances in the first half of the double minor. After continuing the offensive onslaught, a blast from Zidlicky at the point was deflected by Abdelkader into the back of the net to make it 1-0 Detroit. The Blue Jackets immediately made a strong push to tie the game and after Howard turned aside a number of chances, they finally broke through. After Howard stopped a hard shot from the slot, Foligno made a nice play to collect the rebound and pass it to a wide-open Tyutin who put it home to tie the game at 1. Just four minutes later, some poor defending by Zidlicky left Hartnell all alone in front who put it past a helpless Howard to give Columbus a 2-1 lead with only 4 minutes left in the period.

It was good to see Tomas Jurco back on the bench to start the 2^nd after missing the majority of the 1^st following the high stick. The opening 10 minutes saw a lot of special teams play, including nearly 2 full minutes of 4-4 hockey. Each team had a grade A scoring chance but were unable to convert. Johansen was robbed by Howard on the PP while Zetterberg mishandled the puck on a glorious wraparound attempt. With less than 2 minutes remaining, Columbus attempted their PP breakout while Detroit set up in their passive neutral zone fore-check. After receiving the drop pass Cam Atkinson would turn on the jets and skate right by Ericsson before putting it over Jimmy’s glove to make it 3-1 Columbus heading into the 3^rd.

The 3^rd period started with some major line juggling as we saw the return of Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Abby as well as the original kid line. The downside of those two chances was the third line of Erik Cole and Pulkkinen centered by Glendening. The Red Wings had two PP opportunities early but were unable to convert on either, effectively sealing their fate. The team pressed after pulling the goalie early, but was unable to really threaten the Blue Jacket’s lead.

It was a very poor effort by Detroit defensively, particularly on the penalty kill. The two huge defensive miscues cost them against a team committed to working hard in their own zone. Coming out of the west coast trip a bit of a let down is to be expected. However, this stretch of games should have been a chance to pick up points without playing their best. By continuing to drop points against teams like Columbus and Calgary the Wings are giving back the ground they made up on the impressive trip. Hopefully this short road trip will jump start the team and get them back to their winning ways.