Red Wings upended by Blue Jackets; outdoors rematch Saturday

Ted Kulfan, The Detroit News on Feb 27, 2025

Published in Hockey

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

DETROIT — This wasn't the way the Red Wings had this weekend beginning.

Thursday's two-game set with Columbus, capped by Saturday's outdoor game at Ohio Stadium, means plenty for playoff positioning and the standings for both teams. To this point in the schedule, it's the two most important games of the season.

Round one went to the Blue Jackets, who turned a big second period into a 5-2 victory.

The win moved the Jackets (29-22-8) into a tie with the Wings (30-23-6) with 66 points, occupying the two wild-card spots. The teams play again Saturday at Ohio Stadium (6 p.m./ESPN/97.1).

Alex DeBrincat and J.T. Compher (power play) had the Wings' goals.

James van Riemsdyk had two Blue Jackets goals, Sean Kuraly and Kent Johnson had goals, with Kirill Marchenko adding an empty-net goal with just under a minute left to clinch the victory.

Marchenko dove to nudge the puck past defenseman Moritz Seider, Marchenko's 24th goal, giving the Jackets a 5-2 lead.

Nobody was downplaying the significance of these two games after Thursday's morning skate.

"Sometimes you don't want to hype yourself up too much, but these are big games for us," forward Patrick Kane said. "We're in a situation where Columbus is below us in the standings, and we're trying to create some separation."

After a scoreless first period, Columbus scored four second-period goals taking a 4-2 lead into the final period.

DeBrincat opened the scoring with his 27th goal, just 27 seconds into the second period. Compher found DeBrincat open near the low circle and DeBrincat one-timed a shot past goalie Danil Tarasov.

But Columbus roared back with four consecutive goals.

van Riemsdyk scored the first of his two, deflecting Jake Christiansen's shot from the point past Talbot at 4:16.

Kuraly broke the tie with his fifth goal, at 9:43. Kuraly drove to the net and batted down a puck to the side of the net, before knocking the puck past Talbot, giving Columbus a 3-1 lead.

Johnson, the former Michigan star, extended the lead to 3-1. Johnson got his stick on Dante Fabbro's shot and redirected the shot past Talbot for his 20th goal at 12:08.

The Jackets weren't done. van Riemsdyk scored his second, and 14th of the season, snapping Boone Jenner's pass from in front of the net at 15:01.

Compher stopped the onslaught with his seventh goal, on the power play. Jonatan Berggren found Compher alone between the hashmarks and Compher cut the lead to 4-2 at 16:32.

The Wings stressed the importance of these two games after Thursday's morning skate. The hoopla of Saturday's outdoor game and the attention focused on these two teams who weren't considered playoff contenders heading into even January, made it doubly vital to focus on the task of concentrating on the hockey.

"You can either take a big step in the standings here in these next two games or lose one," DeBrincat said after the morning skate. "We have to come out hard. Obviously, first one at home is important and we can move on from there."

Coach Todd McLellan added Saturday's event makes it doubly interesting, but the games and points available are of the most importance.

“The games are very meaningful,” McLellan said. “Outdoor just adds a lot more drama to it. But on Sunday when we all wake up, the actual hockey part of it – the points and what comes out of it – will be the most important."

_____