|
 But if the Blue Jackets can make life difficult for one of their
former Central Division rivals, that might make it easier.
The Blue Jackets scored two 5-on-3 goals and had four different
scorers, holding on for a 5-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings on
Tuesday at Nationwide Arena.
"We wanted to come out strong and put some pressure on them," Blue
Jackets center Brandon Dubinsky said. "We did a lot of good things
that set a tone for the game.
"Other than some scrambles there at the end, I liked the way we
played."
Cam Atkinson had two goals, and David Savard, David Clarkson and
Boone Jenner each scored for the Blue Jackets, while rookie
goaltender Joonas Korpisalo had 31 saves.
Korpisalo, a 21-year-old Finn, has 14 wins on the second, half of
the Blue Jackets' team total.
The Red Wings' goals were scored by Justin Abdelkader, Tomas Tatar
and Andreas Athanasiou, while goaltender Jimmy Howard -- starting
for struggling Petr Mrazek -- finished with 27 saves.
Detroit trailed 4-1 with less than five minutes to play when they
pulled Howard for an extra skater.
Tatar and Athanasiou scored 46 seconds apart to pull the Wings to
4-3, but Atkinson's empty-net goal with 17.5 seconds remaining ended
the comeback bid.
"It's not good enough," Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. "It's
disappointing. Frustrating. There's no way that effort is good
enough, especially in the first period. We have to look inside
ourselves, each individual, and play much better.
"I was surprised by the way we started the game. Certainly
surprised. We have winners in our room. We didn't recognize the
urgency of the moment, and that's hard."
Detroit, which has made the playoffs in 24 consecutive seasons,
holds a precarious two-point lead on Philadelphia for the final
playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
"Out of the gate, the urgency wasn't there," Howard said. "You can't
take anyone lightly in this league or you're going to get beat."
The Blue Jackets took a 1-0 lead only 35 seconds into the second
period and only 11 seconds into a 5-on-3 power play. Savard scored
on a one-timer from the top of the slot.
The Red Wings were getting outshot 17-4 at the time of Savard's
goal, before they awakened. Midway through the second, Abdelkader
scored off the rush from low in the left circle off a feed from
Gustav Nyquist to make it 1-1.
Clarkson's first goal since Dec. 17 gave the Blue Jackets a 2-1 lead
at 16:36 of the second, and the Jackets piled on early in the third.
[to top of second column] |
Jenner scored for the doorstep just 26 seconds into the period to
make it 3-1 and Atkinson's redirection at 9:14 made it 4-1.
The Blue Jackets came into the game with only one 5-on-3 goal in 66
games this season. Atkinson was their second of the night.
But when Atkinson shot wide at an empty net with five minutes to go,
the Red Wings had new life, down 4-1.
"If Cam just puts the damn puck in the net, it's 5-1 and the game is
over," Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. "They're not going
to pull their goalie (down four goals). Cam ... I'm not sure what
happened there.
"But you could just sense it (Detroit) scored their power play goal
that this was going to be a mess. And it was."
The Wings spent much of the final five minutes with their goaltender
pulled, and they generated two goals to make it interesting. Tatar
scored a power play goal with 4:16 remaining to make it 4-2, and
Athanasiou redirected a Mike Green shot with 3:30 remaining to make
it 4-3.
Atkinson put the dagger in the net with 17.5 seconds to play.
NOTES: Red Wings C Pavel Datsyuk missed Sunday's 4-1 loss to Chicago
with an illness but was back in the lineup against one of his
favorite opponents. In 60 career games against the Blue Jackets,
Datsyuk has 21 goals, 46 assists and a plus-24 rating. ... Blue
Jackets D Jack Johnson (upper body) has resumed skating, but there's
no timetable for his return. ... This marked the 82nd meeting
between the Blue Jackets and Red Wings, or one season's worth of
games. The Red Wings held a 53-19-1-8 advantage heading into the
game.
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