A good start went sideways on the Blue Jackets, leading to an ugly loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night at Nationwide Arena.
After forcing Red Wings goalie James Reimer to make several key saves to keep Detroit in front 1-0 in the first period, the Blue Jackets melted down in the second. They allowed three goals, fell behind by four and watched the Red Wings (2-1-0) cruise to a 4-0 win.
“Very good first period, exciting first period,” Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent said. “After the second goal against (us), we changed our way of playing … and when you do that, bad things happen. These are the habits we need to change.”
More: Columbus Blue Jackets: 5 reasons Adam Fantilli moved to left wing
Shayne Gostisbehere, Michael Rasmussen, Dylan Larkin and Andrew Copp scored goals for Detroit, including the latter two on power plays. Spencer Martin took the loss in net for the Blue Jackets (1-2-0), who were 23-14 in the final two periods.
Reimer’s shutout was the 29th of his career and first of the season.
Columbus Blue Jackets vs Detroit Red Wings: play of the game
One of the Blue Jackets’ best looks in the first period happened with 4:18 left and the Red Wings up 1-0. Reimer made a dazzling stop against a shot by Emil Bemstrom to keep it that score at the first intermission.
Columbus Blue Jackets vs Detroit Red Wings: Dispatch’s three stars
First star
James Reimer, Red Wings, goalie
Reimer stopped all 23 shots he faced, including nine in the first period to preserve Detroit’s 1-0 lead.
Second star
Dylan Larkin, Red Wings, center
Larken scored his first goal of the season to cap a power play that put the Red Wings up 3-0 in the second. It was the seventh goal and 25th point he’s had in 26 career games against the Blue Jackets.
Third star
Joe Veleno, Red Wings, center
Veleno’s pass to Gostisbehere in the first period set up the game’s first goal and gave the Red Wings an early lead. Veleno also went 11 of 12 on faceoffs (92%).
Columbus Blue Jackets vs Detroit Red Wings: notes
― Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins didn’t dress while out with the same “stomach bug” that forced him out of a 5-2 victory over the New York Rangers on Saturday. Merzlikins also missed a practice Sunday with the issue. Rookie Jet Greaves backed up Martin while on emergency recall from the Cleveland Monsters.
― Jack Roslovic and Emil Bemstrom returned to the lineup after being scratched against the Rangers. They replaced Liam Foudy and Mathieu Olivier at the wing positions on center Sean Kuraly’s fourth line, continuing Vincent’s forward shuffling while looking for a successful combination.
— Eric Robinson cleared waivers Sunday and was assigned to AHL Cleveland. Should Robinson return to the NHL this season, the Blue Jackets will have a grace period of 30 days and 10 games during which he’s exempt from the waivers process. Only $450,000 of Robinson’s $1.6 million cap hit is applied to the Jackets’ cap number while he’s with the Monsters, but he gets his full $1.7 million in base salary for this season.
Columbus Blue Jackets lineup vs Detroit Red Wings
Forwards
Johnny Gaudreau – Boone Jenner – Kirill Marchenko
Adam Fantilli – Patrik Laine – Alexandre Texier
Kent Johnson – Cole Sillinger – Justin Danforth
Jack Roslovic – Sean Kuraly – Emil Bemstrom
Defensemen
Jake Bean – Erik Gudbranson
Ivan Provorov – David Jiricek
Adam Boqvist – Damon Severson
Goalies
Scott Martin
Jet Greaves
Scratched: Andrew Peeke, Liam Foudy, Mathieu Olivier
Injured: Zach Werenski (quad contusion), Jordan Dumais (upper body)
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets blown out by Detroit Red Wings
