Three’s Company: Columbus Blue Jackets vs. Detroit Red Wings Live Blog

The Columbus Blue Jackets will look for their third win in a row tonight, as they welcome in the Detroit Red Wings in a matchup of former Western Conference rivals now turned Eastern Conference rivals. While it usually takes a bit to get used to a team moving divisions or conferences, seeing the Red Wings is nothing new, and since the Jackets have gotten formidable over the past couple of years, this has become a pretty good rivalry.

Here’s how the lines should shape up, if they keep how they skated in practice:

Nick Foligno – Ryan Johansen – Brian Gibbons
Scott Hartnell – Boone Jenner – Cam Atkinson
Alexander Wennberg – Artem Anisimov – Adam Cracknell
Jared Boll – Michael Chaput – Corey Tropp

And, of course, your defensive pairings:

Dalton Prout – Jack Johnson
David Savard – Jordan Leopold
Tim Erixon – James Wisniewski

And, of course, Sergei Bobrovsky, the sheriff, is in goal tonight. The Wings are coming off a pair of 4-1 games – they were on the winning side against the Blackhawks on Friday and on the losing side Sunday against Montreal. Detroit has a a pair on IR – Jonas Gustavsson and Stephen Weiss – while Pavel Datsyuk was listed as questionable coming into the day, and has been ruled out.

So, sit back, relax and enjoy our live blogging!

Pregame:
The Jackets twitter has laid down the law and given us our starters!

Yeah! Bobby! Oh, and the other guys, too…
But yeah, no deviations from the top lines in practice today.

The broadcast team is talking about how, yes Bob returned on Saturday, but Arty did too, and he did a great job winning faceoffs against the Sharks, winning 64% of draws.

Faceoff is next! Click below for our first-period updates. Lets go Jackets, yall!

Next: CBJ vs. Detroit 1st Period Live Blog

Puck Drop:
Let’s do this, fellas!

18:56, 0-0
Goodness, this first minute has taken forever. The Wings will get possession and then simply just dump it in or take a shot on Bob, who will glove it. No real free flow to this game in the early stages.

11:51, 0-0
Well, this has been a sloppy, physical, limited scoring chance game. The Jackets seemingly have had more opportunities by setting up in the Wings’ zone, but Detroit leads in shots and faceoff wins.

10:30, 0-0
Since coming back from the media timeout, the Jackets have controlled the play. Hartnell, Foligno and Atkinson all with fantastic chances, but can’t put it home.

9:43, 1-0 DET – Thomas Tatar – 6th goal of the year
Well, the Jackets play with the most energy the past couple of minutes, but lackadaisical play in front of Bob by the defense allowed Tatar to go low-post from between the faceoff circles. 1-0 Wings.

5:16, 1-0 DET
It’s amazing how much more confident the Jackets look now than they did during their losing streak, even though their being denied at every opportunity. I’m not sure if it’s cause they’ve gotten back into the winning way or because Bob is back, but either way, I like this way of play.

3:17, 1-0 DET
Jackets on the POWER PLAY! Kind of a weak call, but Brian Lashoff is the guilty party as he stuck his left leg out and made Wennberg hit the ice. Jackets with the first man advantage of the day, let’s tip it in here.

1:42, 1-1 – Boone Jenner – 1st goal of the year
Just as I was saying, the Jackets used the first power play to get their first goal. Jenner was going across the crease, was heading to the ground and the puck went in. However, it’s under review and it went off his skate, sooo this one is under review.

1:42, 1-0 DET – No Goal
Well, a distinct kicking motion is signaled, so take the goal off the board. Jackets still on the power play, though.

END OF THE FIRST PERIOD – COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS 0 – DETROIT RED WINGS 1

First period thoughts: Once it got past the initial several minutes, the Jackets played a solid period, and I’d even dare say the better period. Aside from the kind of fluke goal (lazy defense in front of Bob), the Jackets had the better chances, and even had a goal, but it was waved off. The Jackets are outshooting the Wings, and are hungry to get that waived off goal back. Let’s see what the second period has in store.

Next: CBJ vs. Detroit 2nd Period Live Blog

Puck Drop:
Let’s get the equalizer back, and then let’s take our first lead! C’mon you Jackets!

19:20, 1-0 DET
Not how you want to start this period, Boone to the box for a trip. Similar to the Detroit penalty that ended the first period.

18:16, 2-0 DET – Gustav Nyquist – 9th goal of the season
Wow. Two goals off of rebounds tonight for Detroit, this time Nyquist just makes a beautiful move to go top shelf. Most guys would have over shot the net, not him. Darn. 2-0 other team.

12:30, 2-0 DET
Well, the good news for the Jackets is that the early goal from Detroit in the period has woken them up. The bad news is that the Jackets are still playing rather sloppy, and haven’t been able to really set much up offensively. They are, however, keeping the Wings from doing the same thing, but it’s going to be a difficult night to find the back of the net.

11:44, 2-0 DET
Media timeout, and then after that, Wisnewski is gonna have to sit in the box. Can’t can’t CAN’T let the Wings capitalize. Again.

7:47, 2-0 DET
The Wings call timeout, even up two goals. Wennberg had a prime opportunity to make this a one-goal game, but was absolutely denied, once again, and this is still a no-goal game for Columbus. They want one. Ohh boy can you tell that they want one.

END OF THE SECOND PERIOD – COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS 0 – DETROIT RED WINGS 2

Second period thoughts: Well, that early PP goal really took the wind out of the sails for the Jackets before the period could really start. CBJ will have 1:36 left on a man advantage when the third period begins. In terms of the second period, the Jackets had chances – plenty of them – but Jimmy Howard has been more than solid. Bobrovsky-esque, I’d say. Once Detroit scored, the didn’t truly have that many more opportunities, but they have all the momentum. The Jackets played sloppy at times, but this very easily could be a tie game, or even a one goal lead for CBJ.

Next: CBJ vs. Detroit 3rd Period Live Blog

Puck Drop:
20 more minutes boys. You keep shooting, something has to go in. Keep firing, keep firing, stay out of the box and for the love of everything holy KEEP FIRING.

15:19, 2-0 DET
RyJo to the box. Alright Jackets, let’s not allow another PP goal. Pretty please?

15:10, 3-0 DET – Thomas Jurco
That didn’t take long. Again, just an absolute lazer. Just not Columbus’ night I suppose.

4-0 DET – Riley Sheahan – 3rd goal of the year
Can I turn this off now? Not only is it simply not the Jackets’ night, but Hartnell is going to the box after the goal is scored for a double minor. Can I turn it off?

11:21, 4-0 DET
I’m kind of surprised it’s taken this long to get to this point, but we finally have a fight. Foligno drops the glove simply to release anger. Is this the spark the guys need? Probably, but it’s also probably way too late.

9:19, 4-0 DET
Jackets to the power play, thanks to a Kyle Quincey hook. Lets see if the boys can put one home here…

1:01, 5-0 DET – Darren Helm
Why? Why? Can’t we just have let this end peacefully at 4-0? Ughh

FINAL: Columbus Blue Jackets 0 – Detroit Red Wings 5
Final thoguhts: Well this went downhill very quickly. The Jackets allowed the disallowed goal to linger too long, and a slow start to the second period doomed them from the beginning. Jimmy Howard was outstanding for Detroit, and Boone Jenner was the sparkplug for the Jackets offensively. Oh well. Back to the drawing board before Boston.