Columbus Blue Jackets @ Detroit Red Wings: 2026 Preseason Game 4 Recap

After an exciting 4-0 shutout of the Pittsburgh Penguins in preseason game 3, our Columbus Blue Jackets would look to keep that momentum in the final game of the preseason tonight, against the Detroit Red Wings. At 14:20, our Blue Jackets would get a power play after the Red Wings' Justin Faulk went to the box for a 'delay of game' call. Zach Werenski, Kirill Marchenko, and Charlie Coyle would play tic-tac-toe and give the visiting team a 1-0 lead at 14:40! Charlie Coyle would ship the goal home, giving himself his first of the preseason, while Kirill Marchenko and Zach Werenski would each get their first assists of the preseason on this goal. Seconds later, at 14:54, Sean Monahan would find his way into the box for slashing Red Wings' Moritz Seider. The Blue Jackets would kill this Red Wings power play. At 18:44, Valeri Nichushkin would double the Blue Jackets' lead, and his goals in the preseason would reach two! The only assist on Valeri Nichushkin's goal would belong to Charlie Coyle, giving him two this season and a multi-point night! With seconds left, Jake Christiansen would be sent to the box after interfering with Red Wings' Keegan Kolesar at 19:27. The Blue Jackets would kill this Red Wings' power play in the first minute and a half of period 2. The 2-0  Blue Jackets lead would hold through the first 20 minutes, even with them being outshot 13-8. Jet Greaves was in net, and he still looks as if there was no summer break! 

Something to watch: Ivan Provorov blocked a shot at the end of period 1. It took him a long time to get up, but he did. Thankfully, he did return for period 2. 

As I said, our Blue Jackets would successfully kill off that second Red Wings power play, with Jake Christiansen in the box, early into the middle period. Not long after, at 3:55, Jack Williams would add his first goal to his preseason, extending the visiting team's lead to 3-0! Ryan Lomberg and Denton Mateychuk each added their first assists of the preseason on Jack Williams' goal. This would be the only goal of the middle period, but that doesn't mean the action stopped. At 5:01, Blue Jackets' Coner Garland and Red Wings' Anton Johansson would each go to the box for 2 minutes for roughing. Blue Jackets' Erik Gudbranson would be sent to the box for two minutes after cross-checking Red Wings' Carter Mazur at 8:09. Then, the last penalty of the period would belong to Red Wings' Nate Danielson, who went to the box for two minutes after holding Blue Jackets' Ivan Provorov. Again, the Blue Jackets would not win the shots-on-goal battle, only having half of the Red Wings' total, 10-5, but they'd still hold a sizable lead of 3-0 ahead of period 3! 

After some early back-and-forth, a cross-check from a Blue Jacket on a Red Wing led to a scuffle. When the dust settled, the Blue Jackets' Coner Soucy got 2 minutes in the box for roughing and 2 minutes in the box for that previously mentioned cross-check, while the Red Wings' Lucas Raymond got 2 minutes in the box for roughing. The Blue Jackets would kill off this power play, but at 6:39, Red Wings' Ben Chiarot would get his first goal of the preseason, and the first goal of the night for his home team. Marco Kasper would have the only assist on Ben Chiarot's goal, and this would be his first assist of the preseason, too. The Red Wings would then cash in on a mistake, shrinking the Blue Jackets' lead to a goal at 14:19. The goal would become the first of Red Wings' Michael Rasmussen's preseason. Marco Kasper earns a multipoint night with the primary assist, his second of the preseason, while Ben Chiarot also earns himself a multipoint night with the secondary assist, his third of the preseason. The Red Wings would make the last little over five minutes of this final preseason game interesting, but even after pulling their goaltender, John Gibson, they couldn't find the equalizer. Instead, Cole Sillinger would find the empty net at 19:49! This was Cole Sillinger's first goal of the preseason. Valeri Nichushkin and Sean Monahan come away with their first assists of the preseason on this Cole Sillinger empty-net goal. Our Blue Jackets win, on the road, 4-2 in their final 2026 preseason game! The final shots on goal would be in favor of the Red Wings, for a third period in a row, 11-9. 

Jack Williams, with a 1-0-1 night, is your Third Star of the Game! 

Ben Chiarot, with a 1-1-2 night, is the Second Star of the Game. 

Charlie Coyle, with a 1-1-2 night, is your First Star of the Game!              

Jet Greaves, who played the full game, finished 32/34. This gave him a save percentage of .941. Preseason or not, that's a hell of a show for our number one goaltender. 

The Blue Jackets had to kill four penalties, and they did, in fact, kill four penalties. 

Honestly, an impressive night and a great preseason, as our team won 3 of its 4 games. The next time they take the ice, points will be on the line, and I think they're ready. The puck will drop at home, in Nationwide Arena, at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday night as the Buffalo Sabers come to town! The first 84-game Columbus Blue Jackets season is on deck! 

GO CBJ!