(Sports Network) - The Columbus Blue Jackets did not get their homestand off
to the best of starts. They hope for a better effort on Saturday evening as
they play host to the Detroit Red Wings.
The Blue Jackets began a six-game residency on Thursday and dug themselves an
early hole on the way to a 4-1 setback to the St. Louis Blues, who scored
three goals in the game's first 14 minutes.
Derick Brassard got the Blue Jackets on the board with a power-play goal in
the second period, but the club couldn't generate anymore offense before the
Blues capped the scoring with an empty-net tally. That dealt Columbus its
second straight loss and dropped it to 2-5-1 on the season.
"I'm disappointed. It was 3-0, but it wasn't necessarily just the score,"
Columbus coach Todd Richards said. "It was more how we were playing and how
they were playing."
Sergei Bobrovsky was pulled after giving up three goals on just 11 shots and
didn't make it out of the first period. Steve Mason stopped all 13 shots he
faced in relief.
Acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers in an offseason trade, Bobrovsky won his
Columbus debut but is now 2-2-1 with a 2.97 goals against average and .907
save percentage in five starts. Mason hasn't been much better, going 0-3 with
a 2.97 GAA and .895 save percentage in four games (3 starts).
Bobrovsky's non-regulation loss came against visiting Detroit on Jan. 21, a
4-3 shootout setback as the Red Wings got the winner from Damien Brunner in
the fourth round.
Bobrovsky was solid with 39 saves, but the Blue Jackets have lost six of eight
and 15 of their past 20 against the Red Wings.
Columbus has split its last six at home with Detroit, which got a goal and an
assist from Pavel Datsyuk in the win and 30 saves by Jimmy Howard.
The Red Wings were led by Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg on Friday, getting a
combined seven points out of their top two players in a 5-3 victory over the
St. Louis Blues.
Zetterberg scored twice in the first period and capped a hat trick with an
empty-net short-handed goal to go along with two assists, while Datsyuk had a
goal and assisted on another.
Zetterberg, Detroit's new captain who missed practice on Thursday due to
illness, has five goals and 12 points over a six-game point streak, with an
assist in each game, while Datsyuk has logged 10 points over his last six
contests.
"I hear a lot about the things we don't have, but I don't know any other teams
that have Pav (Pavel Datsyuk) and Z (Zetterberg)," Red Wings coach Mike
Babcock said.
Jonathan Ericsson recorded a goal and an assist, while Johan Franzen had three
helpers. Howard made 23 stops as the Red Wings won consecutive games for the
first time this season and have points in four straight (3-0-1).
Detroit went into Friday's game 3-for-32 on the power play and scored twice on
eight man advantages versus the Blues.
The Sports Network