Blue Jackets whiff on golden chance to impress against Red Wings
Several players being evaluated for NHL jobs came up empty again in another preseason chance to shine.
Brian Hedger
DETROIT, Mich. — Chalk this one up as lost opportunity and then erase it from memory.
In fact, make it opportunities, plural, that were squandered by the Blue Jackets during a 5-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night at Little Caesar’s Arena. They weren’t scoring opportunities either, because those were rare in a game the Red Wings controlled.
No, the opportunities missed were the kind that players looking impress a coaching staff can’t let slip through their fingers the way they did in this game – which was marred on the Columbus side by a parade of penalties, poor puck management and slow skating legs.
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“Every game we’re making decisions and observations,” Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen said. “Like I’ve said from the start here, there’s guys that are pushing for jobs and there’s this internal push. So, I told these guys after the first, ‘Every game’s real important here for everybody, not just the guys who are in the American league or guys who are not NHL players.’ It’s for everybody, so yeah, there’s things we saw (for evaluation) tonight.”
It was a prime opportunity too.
The Red Wings dressed a roster with six NHL regulars from last season plus three of their top prospects, including two high first-round picks in forward Lucas Raymond (No. 4 overall in 2020) and defenseman Moritz Seider (No. 6 overall in 2019).
They were too much for the Blue Jackets to withstand. Taro Hirose scored 1:16 into the game, Chase Pearson made it 2-0 in the waning moments of the first period and the Red Wings built a 3-0 lead after two periods after Dylan Larkin scored a power-play goal in the second on a breakaway.
Larkin led the Red Wings (2-0-0) with two goals and an assist, while Joe Veleno and Hirose had a goal and assist each. Defenseman Nick Leddy (three assists) and Raymond (two assists) added multi-point games without scoring goals.
Detroit went 3 of 5 on power plays, scoring twice in the third period on man-advantage situations.
Carson Meyer scored the lone goal for the Blue Jackets (2-1-1), who started Elvis Merzlikins (18 saves) and had him play the entire game. Thomas Greiss (eight saves) and Calvin Pickard (11 saves) split the net for the Red Wings, who will visit Columbus on Wednesday for a rematch.
"The three games that we’d played, the team that’s had to travel has been a real sluggish team," Larsen said. "You hope you’re not, but we were and the second wasn’t much better. Even the third wasn’t a whole lot better either. It’s disappointing. Like I said, some guys are trying to push for jobs and they’re not helping themselves in some of these (games).”
Goals
First period
DET — The Red Wings jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead just 1:16 into the game when Hirose tipped Riley Barber’s wrister from the high slot past Merzlikins. Nick Leddy also assisted.
DET — Detroit went up 2-0 with 1:17 left in the period on a strange goal that probably would’ve caused more of a ruckus in the regular season. During a 2-on-1 rush, Chase Pearson carried the puck up the right wing into the Columbus zone and tried to flip a pass over to his teammate on the back side of the play.
Blue Jackets defenseman Jake Bean anticipated it, cut it off with a back slide and crashed into Merzlikins feet first. The puck slid under the goalie’s pads after Pearson kept his stick under Bean’s body and pushed the defenseman into the net. Merzlikins immediately protested the shove to no avail. Leddy assisted.
Second period
DET — The Red Wings caught the Blue Jackets in a shorthanded line change late in the period and it resulted in a breakaway for speedy center Dylan Larkin. His shot beat Merzlikins through the five-hole for a 3-0 lead with 5:27 left. Leddy and Joe Veleno assisted.
Third period
CBJ — Columbus came out with a little more pep in its step for the final period and pulled within 3-1 on Meyer’s goal, which was his first preseason goal and first goal wearing a Blue Jackets uniform. Detroit goalie Calvin Pickard made a stop on a sot by Cole Cassels, but Meyer got to the rebound and scored with a nice backhand. Cassels and Scott Harrington assisted.
DET — Cassels struggled with penalties and paid the price for hooking and boarding minors. The Red Wings pushed their lead to 4-1 with 5:16 to play after the boarding call in the third, when Larkin’s feed to the front of the net was redirected by Veleno into the net. Larkin and Raymond had the assists.
DET — Larkin added another late goal on a power play after Jake Gaudet was called for tripping with 2:41 left. Taking a crisp cross-ice feed from Raymond, Larkin snapped a hard shot past Merzlikins to the short side of the net to complete the scoring. Raymond and Hirose assisted.
Save of the game
It was rough night for Merzlikins, who faced a lot of high-danger situations, but that meant he also came up with some difficult stops. After coming up with a big one against a one-timer by Filip Zadina 25 seconds into the second, the Jackets’ net-minder topped it eight minutes later.
What began as a 2-on-1 for the Blue Jackets turned into a 2-on-1 for Detroit at 8:29, after Jack Roslovic’s cross-ice pass was intercepted. Larkin got off a hard wrist shot from close range, but Merzlikins deflected it to keep Detroit’s lead 2-0.
Pluses/Minuses
Minus
Detroit only outshot Columbus 7-5 in the first, but the Red Wings got off to a stronger start. They controlled the puck, kept the action in the Blue Jackets’ zone for most of the first 10 minutes and took an early lead on Hirose’s goal. The Jackets clawed back into the possession game in the second half of the period, but most of their time was spent cruising around the perimeter or taking long shots from the blue line.
Minus
The Blue Jackets brought a group that included several players battling for NHL roster spots and roles. This was not a good way to stake any claims. None of those with NHL experience capitalized on their opportunity and a few showed signs of regression.
Those who fizzled in top-six roles up front included Emil Bemstrom, Alexandre Texier, Liam Foudy and Justin Danforth.
Texier was on the ice for two of Detroit’s power play goals plus Pearson’s even-strength goal. He also finished under 50% on face-offs (6 of 14) and continued to struggle losing pucks while trying to stickhandle into the offensive zone. Bemstrom played 16:26, finished with a minus-1 rating and put one shot on net among his four attempts.
On blue line, Andrew Peeke and Scott Harrington were on the ice for all three Detroit power-play goals, while Peeke was on for Hirose’s goal in the first. Gabriel Carlsson and Dean Kukan also took minus-1 ratings.
Plus
The Ohio AAA Blue Jackets program was well represented. Meyer and Cassels are both products of the Columbus-based developmental program, along with Blue Jackets centers Jack Roslovic and Sean Kuraly. Roslovic centered the top line in this game. Cassels assisted on Meyer’s goal.
“It feels great, but it’d feel a lot better if there was a better outcome,” said Meyer, who’s from Powell, was drafted by the Blue Jackets and played collegiately at both Miami and Ohio State. “Obviously it’s preseason, but it was a pretty special moment for me. I had my parents and girlfriend in the stands, so that was pretty special for them to be there for that. But it’s a pretty disappointing outcome, so that’s unfortunate.”
Plus
Meyer was one of the few bright spots for the Blue Jackets in the game and his work ethic in training camp has caught the coaching staff’s attention. He’s currently in the non-NHL practice group, but could play his way into making his NHL debut at some point this season.
“He’s one of the guys that was working,” Larsen said. “I mean, he gives an honest effort and it’s nice to see him go to the net and get rewarded. We've been talking a lot about that. There’s a lot to like about his game as far as his effort and what he puts into a game. I think he’s just gotten better every year he’s been around us.”
Minus
Referees Beau Halkidis and TJ Luxmore deserve a “minus” for not spotting Pearson’s blatant push of Bean and the puck into the net for the second goal. That’s not legal. It’s a call that’s probably made in the regular season, or at least looked at closer, but there’s no reason why preseason games should be called differently.
bhedger@dispatch.com
@BrianHedger