Columbus needed just 1:43 to get on the board as Bayreuther notched not just his first goal in union blue but his first point. A nice shift in the offensive end for the Jackets ended with a quick passing play, as Liam Foudy and Patrik Laine exchanged feeds before the former fed Bayreuther at the right point, and his shot sailed in clean past the glove of Detroit goalie Thomas Greiss.
The Blue Jackets then doubled the lead during a strong start to the second period. It was Gerbe who tallied 7:48 into the frame, as Vladislav Gavrikov cleared a puck from the front of the net to Eric Robinson, who hit the veteran CBJ forward alone behind the defense, and Gerbe made a slick move before putting a backhander past Greiss' glove to make it 2-0.
But penalties and mistakes doomed the Jackets in the latter half of the period, as Detroit scored three times in 3:02 to take a 3-2 lead. It started with the Red Wings on the power play at 13:50, as Joe Veleno took a cross-ice feed from Jakub Vrana in the left circle and beat Kivlenieks shortside with a nifty shot for his first NHL goal to make it 2-1.
Just 58 seconds later, it was 2-2, with Detroit scoring on a 6-on-5 advantage thanks to a delayed penalty. Mathias Brome's shot from the right side went wide into the left corner, and Danny DeKeyser was the first one there and chopped a shot on net from a sharp angle that somehow snuck past Kivlenieks as he scrambled toward the post.
Detroit completed the comeback by taking a 3-2 lead with 3:08 left in the period. A Columbus turnover ended up on the stick of Richard Panik, and he quickly centered across the slot to Vrana, whose quick shot got past Kivlenieks for Vrana's seventh goal in 10 games with the Wings.
Oliver Bjorkstrand nearly tied the score early in the third when he got behind the Detroit defense and got in alone on Greiss, but his shot hit the post and caromed away. That was the Jackets' best chance, and with the net empty and 2:02 to go, Vladislav Namestnikov tucked a shot home a pass from Sam Gagner to make it a 4-2 game, then Namestnikov added a second empty-netter with 47.1 seconds to go to set the final score.
