#LGRW Final: Detroit earns uplifting bounce-back win, 3-1, over Columbus

DETROIT -- After suffering a 7-1 loss on Thursday night, Detroit Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill sent a message to his team that their compete level was unacceptable. That message was clearly understood on Saturday afternoon as the Wings earned two goals in the opening nine minutes against the Columbus Blue Jackets en route to a 3-1 victory at Little Caesars Arena.

Red Wings forwards Adam Erne and Robby Fabbri scored goals in a 29-second span midway through the first period, Anthony Mantha added a third-period goal and goalie Calvin Pickard made 21 saves to earn his win this season in his first NHL start since November 29, 2019.
The win snapped Detroit's three-game losing streak, improving the Wings' record to 11-20-4 this season and 8-8-3 at home, while the Blue Jackets' loss dropped them to 13-14-8 on the campaign.

Pickard, who made just his third appearance in net this season, said the win is a huge boost for Detroit's confidence after losing three in a row and only scoring one goal during the losing streak.
"Yeah, it was awesome," the 28-year-old goalie said. "Obviously we weren't too thrilled with our game in Nashville on Thursday and we had a hard practice yesterday and everyone wanted to bounce back today and we came back flying. We had a great first period, set the tone and played really well for a full 60."
It was crucial for the Red Wings to start on time in Saturday's matinee and Detroit did just that, peppering Columbus goalie Elvis Merzlikins with early shots, outshooting the Blue Jackets, 15-2, in the first 15 minutes of the game.
Erne opened the scoring at 8:29 of the first period when he tipped in a point shot from defenseman Filip Hronek to give the Red Wings' a much-needed 1-0 lead. Danny DeKeyser also earned an assist on Erne's goal.

Just 29 seconds later, Fabbri buried a shot from just past the goal line on a tic-tac-toe passing play from Filip Zadina and Dylan Larkin to increase the Wings' lead to 2-0. The goal was Fabbri's team-leading 10th of the season.

Detroit took the 2-0 lead into the first intermission, but Columbus captain Nick Foligno made it a one-goal game at 11:43 of the second period. Boone Jenner found Alexandre Texier behind the net and Texier sent a perfect pass through the crease to a wide-open Foligno, who easily found the back of an open net.
But as the Blue Jackets continued to press, the Red Wings' didn't panic, righting the ship for the rest of the period and retaining a 2-1 lead at the end of the second.
At 4:42 of the third, Mantha closed the door on the Blue Jackets as he earned his ninth goal of the season to increase Detroit's lead to 3-1. Mantha was camped out in front of the net, took a perfect pass from Larkin and fired a one-time shot from just outside the crease that Merzlikins got a piece of, but was unable to stop.
Detroit defenseman Patrik Nemeth started the play by sending a pass to Larkin in front to earn the second assist on Mantha's goal.

The Blue Jackets pulled Merzlikins with more than two minutes left in regulation, but Pickard and the Wings stood tall, skating away with their eighth win of the season at Little Caesars Arena.
Blashill said he was pleased with his team's response after the embarrassing six-goal loss on Thursday.
"I thought we played really well. I like our group. I think our guys care," the Wings' coach said. "I think they were embarrassed in the Nashville game and they showed up yesterday and worked their tails off and they showed up today and worked their tails off."
But Blashill said Detroit can't afford to get complacent after the bounce-back victory. He said his club needs to bring the exact same level of energy and grit in a quick turnaround game against Columbus on Sunday afternoon.
"We've got to show up tomorrow and work our tails off," Blashill said. "We've got to be a team that brings our work ethic every night to put us in position to win hockey games. We certainly did that tonight, but we better be ready to do it again tomorrow."
The Red Wings return to action in less than 24 hours as they wrap up the series against the Blue Jackets on Sunday at 3 p.m. The Wings will celebrate the next generation of Hockeytown's finest during the matinee matchup with
Kids Day at Little Caesars Arena
.