Blue Jackets drop preseason game in Detroit

The Blue Jackets dropped a 5-1 final against Detroit in a preseason game on Saturday night at Little Caesars Arena.

Quote of the Game

Head coach Brad Larsen: "It's funny, the three games we've played, the team that has had to travel has been a real sluggish team, so you expect that. You hope that you're not. But the second (period) wasn't much better. Even the third wasn't a whole lot better either. Yeah, it's disappointing."

Video: CBJ Recap: Meyer scores the lone goal in 5-1 loss

CBJ Standouts

• Carson Meyer scored his first goal of the preseason and his first goal in a CBJ sweater for the native of nearby Powell.
• Goalie Elvis Merzlikins played the whole game and made 18 saves.

Quick Recap

Detroit scored twice in the first period to take a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes, with a goal coming 1:16 into the game and the second tally with 1:17 left in the period. On the first, Detroit finished a strong shift in the offensive zone with a goal as Riley Barber found space and let go a shot from the top of the left circle and watched Taro Hirose tip it past Merzlikins in front of the net. On the latter, the Red Wings had a 2-on-1, and as Jake Bean slid back to break up Chase Pearson's pass across, he kept sliding into Merzlikins and the puck went into the net.
In the second, Merzlikins made a couple of big saves, including an early one on Filip Zadina and a late pad stop on Lucas Raymond. But Detroit did make it a 3-0 game with 5:27 left in the period on the power play, as Nick Leddy hit Dylan Larkin on a breakout pass and the Wings captain came in with a step on Andrew Peeke and fired shortside past Merzlikins.
Columbus got a lifeline early in the third as Meyer tallied to cut the Detroit lead to 3-1. After a faceoff win by Cole Cassels, Scott Harrington put a shot on net that was stopped by Detroit goalie Calvin Pickard, but Meyer was in the right place to backhand the rebound into the net. Columbus couldn't find any other goals, though, and Joe Veleno's power-play goal from in front off a nice feed from Larkin with 5:16 to go made it 4-1 and Larkin's power-play snipe from the left circle with 1:15 left set the final score.

Jeff's Three Takeaways

1. Well, let's just throw that one away. It felt like it might be that the case when you saw the CBJ roster -- it was mostly youngsters being given a chance to impress -- and it did end up that way, as it very much felt like a preseason game for both teams. Columbus had just five shots in the first period and 12 after two, and it felt that way (Detroit didn't have much more, with seven in the first and nine in the second). In the end, the Wings ended up with a 23-20 shots on goal edge.
   2. Andrew Peeke is someone who is battling for a roster spot on the back end, and my money is he not only is on the opening roster but plays Oct. 14 vs. Arizona. He played a physical game against the Wings and seems much happier to mix it up as he gets older and gains more experience. He's also a right-hand shot, which the Jackets just don't have a ton of. It would be big for the Jackets to be able to just plug the second-round pick into the lineup and let him go, as he has the talent to be a longtime contributor.
   3. Shout out to the AAA Blue Jackets program as two alums combined to score a goal. Cassels -- who was signed by Cleveland this offseason and is the son of former CBJ player Andrew Cassels -- and Meyer are both local products trying to make an impact with the Jackets/Monsters this year, so it was pretty cool to see them get one. For Meyer, it had to be pretty sweet, as the Powell native got his first tally in a CBJ sweater. There's no shortage of AAA alums around these days, and it's great for the local community to see them have success.

Notable

Columbus fell to 2-1-1 in the preseason. ... Detroit's starting goalie, Thomas Greiss, made eight saves in 31:34 before being replaced by Pickard (11 saves on 12 shots). … Harrington was the lone CBJ player to wear an "A". ... CBJ forward Gregory Hofmann and defenseman Jake Bean led the team with four shots on goal. ... Detroit's power play was 3 for 5 while Columbus was scoreless on three tries. ... Larkin (2-1-3) and Leddy (0-3-3) each had three-point nights. ... A shootout was held postgame, with Liam Foudy scoring the lone tally.

Roster Report

Here is a link to the roster
the Blue Jackets used for the game.

Up Next

Columbus continues the exhibition season Monday night at Buffalo before returning to Nationwide Arena to take on the Red Wings on Wednesday night.