In a high-scoring, back-and-forth Eastern Conference matchup, the Detroit Red Wings were edged 6-5 in a shootout by the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night, securing a single point at Nationwide Arena.
“I feel like the last couple years of these games, they’ve always been kind of crazy,” forward James van Riemsdyk said. “I liked the way we stuck with it. Usually, when you’re leading at the end of the game like that, you’d like to find a way to get the two points, but I thought we played resilient.”
Columbus opened the scoring at 17:55 of the first period when Ivan Provorov beat a screened Cam Talbot with a shot from above the left face-off circle. The goal came just moments after Detroit’s Ben Chiarot swept a loose puck off the goal line to keep the game scoreless.
The contest exploded in a wild second period that saw the teams combine for six goals, with five coming on the power play.
Detroit’s special teams unit was particularly effective, scoring three power-play goals in a single game for the first time this season. “We got our power-play opportunities and capitalized,” Patrick Kane said. “The ultimate equalizer, if you can be good on special teams.”
Captain Dylan Larkin tied the game 1-1 just 1:09 into the middle frame, redirecting a shot from Moritz Seider for his team-leading 15th goal of the season. The primary assist marked Seider’s 200th career NHL point, while Lucas Raymond earned the secondary assist to extend his point streak to seven games.
Head coach Todd McLellan compared the game to the teams’ previous meeting. “We fell behind, had to come back, got to overtime and in that case we got the shot off that we needed,” McLellan said. “Tonight, we didn’t and it comes down to a crapshoot in a shootout.”
Talbot finished with 25 saves for the Red Wings (14-11-3), while Columbus netminder Elvis Merzlikins made 28 saves for the Blue Jackets (13-9-5).
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