Detroit Red Wings @ Columbus Blue Jackets: Season 25 Game 26

 Following the thrilling road win at the New Jersey Devils on Monday night, full of fights and goals, it was time for our boys to fly home and prepare for tonight's game. We welcome the Red Wings from Detroit to Nationwide Arena. In addition, we thank Luca Pinelli for coming to help the Columbus Blue Jackets while Kirill Marchenko was out injured, as he returns to the ice tonight! With all of this said, it was sure to be an exciting home game, and after nearly a full period of the Blue Jackets doing everything right except getting the puck past the goal line, Ivan Provorov would for the first goal of the game at 17:55! This 1-0 lead would mark goal number four of Ivan Provorov's season, while Brenden Gaunce would add assist number two of his season! The period would end with the Blue Jackets leading shots on goal 8-6 and the game 1-0. 

Period 2 would hold a lot of action for both teams. With Ivan Provorov in the box for two minutes with a delay of game penalty, Dylan Larkin would score the Red Wings' first goal of the game at 1:09. This power play goal would become his fifteenth this season. Moritz Seider would add assist number sixteen to his season with the primary, while Lucas Raymond would add his twenty-first with the secondary. The Blue Jackets would quickly answer as they'd go on a power play of their own with Red Wings' Axel Sandin-Pellikka in the box after holding Charlie Coyle, leading to Kirill Marchenko's ninth goal this season at 5:19! Oh, welcome back, Marchy! Zach Werenski adds assist number eighteen on this goal after picking up the primary assist, while the secondary assist becomes number nine for Sean Monahan. The Blue Jackets would then double their goals in Period 2, going up 3-1, with Kent Johnson's third goal this season at 7:11! Cole Sillinger gets the primary assist, giving him nine this season, while the secondary assist gets added to Denton Mateychuk's total this season, giving him five assists so far. Unfortunately, seconds later at 7:52, Dimitri Voronkov would be issued a four-minute penalty after a high stick hit Red Wing's Andrew Copp and drew blood. Lucas Raymond would add goal number ten to his season on the power play at 9:08, bringing us to a 3-2 Blue Jackets one-goal lead. Axel Sandin-Pellikka gets his fifth assist this season on the primary, while Patrick Kane adds his fourteenth on the secondary. Just over a minute later, former Blue Jacket James van Riemsdyk would get his own power play goal, tying us at 3-3 with his fifth goal this season. Andrew Copp adds assist number nine to his season with the primary, while Emmitt Finnie adds his eighth on the secondary. Before the period could end, Adam Fantilli would take the lead back for the home team with goal ten of his season at 13:50! Zach Werenski and Sean Monahan both became multipoint players tonight; Werenski added his nineteenth assist this season with the primary, while Monahan added his tenth with the secondary. The Blue Jackets would defend their one-goal lead to the end of this period. The Blue Jackets would lose the shots on goal battle in the middle period, the Red Wings leading it 16-9. 

The beginning of Period 3 wouldn't be a friend to the foe. First, Patrick Kane would get his fourth goal this season at 9:35, tying us at 4-4. Moritz Selder would get assist number seventeen of his season on the primary, while Andrew Copp adds his tenth on the secondary. So, a multipoint night for all three of them after that goal. Then, Alex DeBrincat would shoot his shot, getting goal number fourteen of his season at 11:38, giving his Red Wings their lead back. There would be no assists on this goal, which takes us to 5-4 and down a goal. With just a couple of minutes left, the Blue Jackets would elect to open the net and bring Elvis Merzlikins to the bench. This decision would pay off as Adam Fantilli would add goal two of his night and team-leading eleventh this season at 18:29! Zach Werenski adds his third assist tonight and twentieth this season on the primary, while Sean Monahan also adds his third assist tonight, his eleventh this season, on the secondary. And on to overtime we go for a fight over who gets point number two tonight! This final period of regulation would see the Blue Jackets win the shots on goal battle by one shot, 12-11. 

As is typical, overtime wouldn't be enough either, as both teams had impressive moments in the bonus five-minute period, but no goals. The shootout would begin with Kent Johnson shooting and scoring first. Elvis Merzlikins would stop both the first and second shooters for the Red Wings. Then, Kirill Marchenko would make his return known, ending the shootout in Round 3 with a second Blue Jackets goal! It took some extra effort, but that's a big 2 points tonight, and we're rollin' on to the Florida Panthers Saturday afternoon! 

In his first game back, Kirill Marchenko was awarded the Third Star of the Game with a 1-0-1 night. 

With a 0-3-3 night, Zach Werenski gets the Second Star of the Game. 

After a 2-0-2 night, Adam Fantilli gets the First Star of the Game. In addition, he hits a career milestone with points 99 and 100 in this game tonight! Overall, he holds a 54-46-100 at this point in his career. Certainly a cause to celebrate for sure! 

Our next game will be Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m.at the Florida Panthers. It pains me to say this, but I will be missing this game due to work, so cheer extra hard for me, 5th Line! My next recap will be a thriller and worth the wait as we travel from Florida to Washington to play the Capitals Sunday night at 7:00 p.m. 

GO CBJ!!