Red Wings fall to 1-6 in shootout with loss to Blue Jackets

Photo by Jen Hefner/MiHockey
Photo by Jen Hefner/MiHockey

 

By @SKubus

DETROIT – In a tale of two trending clubs, the falling Detroit Red Wings lost to the red-hot Columbus Blue Jackets by a 1-0 shootout final Tuesday night at Joe Louis Arena, extending their losing streak to four games.

Boone Jenner scored the shootout winner for the Blue Jackets, while Sergei Bobrovsky turned aside 30 shots for the shutout. Jimmy Howard stopped all 29 shots he faced in regulation and in overtime. With the victory, Columbus extended its winning streak to seven games.

“Both teams played good defense, both teams created enough chances to score more goals,” Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg said. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t do that tonight again. We had a stretch there when we scored a lot of goals, but at the same time, the other team scored a lot of goals, too. We play a little bit better defense now and I think the offense is hurting just a little bit because of it.”

Zetterberg credited Howard’s solid play for keeping it a scoreless game for 65 minutes.

“Jimmy was very impressive today again, made some key saves after key saves. Unfortunately we couldn’t get the two points for him here tonight.”

Howard, himself, said he felt “awesome” between the pipes Tuesday night.

“I felt really good, no different than I have for pretty much 98-percent of the year… Pucks were sticking to me, it was nice.”

Throughout the 65-minute contest, it was a tight-checking affair, as both teams traded chances throughout the contest, but Bobrovsky and Howard stood tall the entire evening. The Red Wings had to tip their hats to the 2012-13 Vezina Trophy winner.

“He was just as good (as Howard),” defenseman Danny DeKeyser said. “He was making the saves he had to make, and then when there was traffic in front, he was kicking rebounds into the corners and making it tough on us to get second chances.”

Detroit’s shootout woes this season are no secret, as the team dropped to 1-6 in the shootout.

“When the penalty shots started, we were pretty good,” Zetterberg said. “We had a lot of confidence, we had fun with it, just went out and enjoyed it. I think we have to go back to that, not put so much pressure on ourselves. We got one point. Obviously the second point is important, but in a penalty shot situation, you’ve got to have confidence. If you’re pressing and holding your stick way too tight, you won’t score.”

Friday night, Detroit hosts the New York Islanders, a team that sports an NHL-best 6-0 shootout record.