Justin Danforth scored the go-ahead goal with 2:17 left and Elvis Merzlikins made 43 saves to lead the Columbus Blue Jackets over the Detroit Red Wings 5-3 in the Stadium Series on Saturday night at chilly Ohio Stadium in Columbus.
Denton Mateychuk, Dmitri Voronkov, Mathieu Olivier and Adam Fantilli also scored, Zach Werenski and Boone Jenner each had two assists and Danforth added an assist for Columbus, which leapfrogged Detroit into the Eastern Conference’s top wild-card spot with its fourth straight win.
Alex DeBrincat scored twice and Patrick Kane had a goal and two assists for Detroit. Cam Talbot finished with 16 saves for the Red Wings.
Danforth drove past defenseman Simon Edvinsson at the blue line and then put in a rebound of his own shot for the game-winner. Fantilli then sealed the win with an empty-netter with 1:08 to go.
The crowd of 94,751, braving 27-degree temperatures with a wind chill of 17 degrees, was the second largest ever to watch an NHL game behind only the 2014 Winter Classic crowd of 105,491 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Columbus took a 1-0 lead at 5:31 mark of the second period when Mateychuk fired a wrist shot from the bottom of the left circle into the top far corner.
Detroit tied it midway through the period with a power -play goal when DeBrincat, stationed by the left post, slammed in a crossing pass from Kane. The goal extended DeBrincat’s point streak to nine games, matching his career high set with the Chicago Blackhawks from Jan. 17-Feb. 12, 2019.
The Blue Jackets answered with two goals in the span of 32 seconds to take a 3-1 lead. Voronkov got the first with his eighth power-play goal of the season when he deflected Kent Johnson’s pass over Talbot’s right shoulder. Olivier followed when he scooped up a puck behind the net and lifted a wraparound shot over Talbot’s glove and inside the right post.
Kane cut the lead to 3-2 early in the third with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle through traffic and past Merzlikins’ glove side. DeBrincat tied it with 3:24 when he roofed a wrist shot from the left circle setting the stage for Danforth’s game-winner just 67 seconds later.
–Field Level Media
