Re-Fire the Cannon

Blue Jackets 4, Red Wings 2

Allen York leaned back and let out a huge breath as the final horn sounded in Nationwide Arena. Two nights earlier, he watched the Blue Jackets fall to the Red Wings 7-2. On Wednesday night, he played an integral role in Columbus’ 4-2 victory as he stopped 29 of 31 shots.

            Similar to the teams’ last meeting, the home team dictated play. Outshot, outhit, and outworked, the Red Wings stumbled their way through 60 minutes of lackluster hockey.

The Blue Jackets opened the scoring at 6:26 of the first period when Vinny Prospal fired a shot that floated above the crossbar before eventually landing on the skate of Niklas Kronwall and trickling into the goal.

            Later in the period, Columbus struck again when Ryan Johansen chipped the puck past the defense then fed a cross-ice pass to Derek Dorsett who put a backhander above Ty Conklin to make it 2-0.

            Before heading into intermission, Detroit’s Henrik Zetterberg converted on the power play to cut the lead in half. Zetterberg now has 12 points in his last 10 games.

            In the second period, the Blue Jackets tallied twice to take a commanding 4-1 lead. Through 20 minutes, Columbus outshot the Red Wings 22-13.

            Looking to rebound in the final 20 minutes, Detroit came out hungry in the third period but could not muster up more than one goal.

            Battling for home ice advantage in first round of the playoffs, the Red Wings squandered a huge opportunity to improve their position in the Western Conference standings. Detroit is now one point above the Nashville Predators.