RECAP: Red Wings begin season-long six-game road trip with 6-5 shootout loss in Columbus

COLUMBUS -- In a high-scoring, back-and-forth Eastern Conference matchup, the Detroit Red Wings fought hard but ultimately had to settle for just one point as they suffered a 6-5 shootout loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Thursday night.

“I feel like the last couple years of these games, they’ve always been kind of crazy games,” James van Riemsdyk said. “I liked the way we stuck with it…Usually, when you’re leading at the end of the game like that, you’d like to try to find a way to get the two points but I thought we played resilient and stuck with the process even if things didn’t go our way. I liked that part of our game.”

Goalie Cam Talbot made 25 saves for Detroit (14-11-3; 31 points), which scored three power-play goals in a single game for the first time this season. On the opposite end of the rink, netminder Elvis Merzlikins had 28 saves for Columbus (13-9-5; 31 points).

"It kind of reminds me of the game that we played in Detroit a couple weeks ago against them -- we fell behind, had to come back, got to overtime and in that case we got the shot off that we needed" Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan said. "Tonight, we didn't and it comes down to a crapshoot in a shootout."

Late in the first period, mere seconds after Ben Chiarot swept away a rebound off Detroit’s goal line, Ivan Provorov snapped a shot from above the left face-off circle past a screened Talbot to start the scoring and give Columbus a 1-0 lead at 17:55.

An action-packed second period saw the Red Wings and Blue Jackets combine for six goals, five of which were on the man advantage.

“We got our power-play opportunities and capitalized on the power play,” Patrick Kane said when asked about how the middle frame. “Three goals on the power play tonight, that’s kind of what we expect from that group…The ultimate equalizer, if you can be good on special teams. We had a good night on the power play but gave up a couple on the penalty kill and 6-on-5, so it’s kind of what the game comes down to sometimes.”

On Detroit's second power play of the night, captain Dylan Larkin redirected Moritz Seider’s shot from between the face-off circles into the back of the net to make it 1-1 just 1:09 into the second period. Seider’s primary assist on Larkin’s team-leading 15th goal of the season marked his 200th career NHL point, while Lucas Raymond extended his point streak to seven consecutive contests with the secondary helper.

Columbus struck right back though, as Kirill Marchenko scored a power-play goal with a snap shot from the left face-off circle at 5:18 before Kent Johnson deposited the rebound of Cole Sillinger’s shot at 7:11.

Suddenly, Detroit found itself in a 3-1 deficit.

But, a double-minor penalty against Dmitri Voronkov just past the middle frame’s halfway point gave the Red Wings a golden opportunity and they took full advantage by beating Merzilkins twice in a span of 1:12 to knot things back up again.

Raymond made it 3-2 at 9:08, sending a wrist shot from the edge of the left face-off circle into the back of the net for his 10th goal of the season. Axel Sandin-Pellikka and Patrick Kane had the assists.

Then at 10:20, van Riemsdyk notched his fourth goal in his last five games by poking the puck home from up close. The assists went to Andrew Copp and Emmitt Finnie.

“It’s funny, the way the puck will bounce your way sometimes and things like that,” van Riemsdyk said. “It’s nice for that to happen and obviously, I want to continue to do that to produce and help the team win.”

Adam Fantilli buried a one-timer from the right face-off circle at 13:50, putting the hosts back in front 4-3.

That score lasted until 9:35 of the third period, when Patrick Kane’s wrist shot from the high slot beat Merzlikins to make it 4-4. For Kane, who was assisted by Seider and Copp, that marked his 496th career NHL goal.

“It’s been a little bit, and I feel like I’ve been getting some good looks,” said Kane, who has four goals this season. “It’s probably just the way to do it, right? You attack, shoot through their defensemen and find a way to get a shot on net. Good to see it go in, for sure.”

Detroit would take its first and only lead of the night at 11:38 of the third period, when Alex DeBrincat lit the lamp for the 14th time this season to make it 5-4.

With Merzlikins pulled for the extra skater, Fantilli's second goal of the game tied it 5-5 with 1:31 to go in regulation. After neither club scored during overtime, both Marchenko and Johnson scored in the shootout.

“That fighting spirit, of playing no matter what the score is, that is a really good quality for teams to have,” van Riemsdyk said. “I think we’ve shown that this year…Nice to get at least a point out of this and start the road trip off that way, so we know we definitely can play a more complete 60 minutes.”

NEXT UP: Detroit will visit the Emerald City to take on the Seatle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday night.

WHAT WAS SAID

McLellan on how Detroit could benefit from being more predictable defensively

"We've all been talking about this for a long time. There are moments when we do a real good job of it and we look solid then we get away from it. Trying to find that consistency."

Kane on Thursday’s shootout loss

“After the second, if you would have told us that we would’ve gotten a point and took it to overtime, obviously you always want to points, but that would’ve been good for us. We get that one-goal lead in the third, and it would’ve been nice to finish that off and get the two points.”

Kane on tightening up on defense

“We were dominating there in the third, then all of a sudden, we go up one and kind of sit back a little bit. I’d like to see us stay on the gas and make a play in their end. That’s the toughest way to score, right?”