RECAP: Red Wings drop 10-7 decision to Blue Jackets

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – It was a building block game for the Detroit Red Wings against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday afternoon at Centre Ice Arena, but in the 2023 NHL Prospect Tournament, every contest is.

Speaking to the media after Detroit fell, 10-7, to Columbus, Red Wings prospects coach Dan Watson pointed out that tough losses can create valuable teaching moments. 

“Those are hard lessons to learn, especially when you give up that many,” Watson said. “Those are hard lessons to learn in front of a fanbase here in Traverse City and the tournament atmosphere. You don’t want to lose a score like that, but these are lessons our guys can learn. Tomorrow, they’ll be better for it.”

Forward Riley Sawchuk got Detroit started offensively with a breakaway goal at 13:58 of the first period, giving the Red Wings a 1-0 lead. Just 3:33 later, defenseman Jackson DeSouza made it 2-0 at 10:25. He was assisted by forwards Alexandre Doucet and Amadeus Lombardi.

Doucet put Red Wings ahead, 3-0, at 7:49 after taking a pass from Lombardi and sending a shot from the left face-off circle that beat Blue Jackets goalie Nolan Lalonde. Then with three minutes left before the first intermission, Columbus cut it to 3-1 on a power play.

At 18:30 of the second, forward Cross Hanas scored a man-advantage tally to make it 4-1. Defenseman William Wallinder and forward Nate Danielson were both credited with an assist on the former 2020 second-round pick’s first goal of the afternoon.

The Blue Jackets flipped the script in the second, scoring seven unanswered goals to grab an 8-4 lead. Later in the same frame, Hanas, who was assisted by Danielson and defenseman Andrew Gibson, found the back of the net again to cut Detroit’s deficit, 8-5.

“When the wheels fall off like that for a few minutes and they get all those goals, it’s tough to come back from,” Hanas said. “The coaches did a good job. We called a timeout and regrouped a little bit as much as we could on the bench. Then our next goal was to win the rest of the period, get out of the period and regroup in the locker room.

“Games like that, you have to have some small victories here and there to try to get yourself back on track and put yourself in a spot to potentially win the game.”

Just over a minute into the third, Elmer Soderblom scored to bring the Red Wings back within a pair, 8-6. The 6-foot-8, 246-pound forward was assisted by Sawchuk and defenseman Tnias Mathurin.

The Blue Jackets led 9-6 at 16:33, then Red Wings forward Nic Sima cleaned up a rebound at 12:32 to make it 9-7. The assists on Sima’s goal went to Danielson and Mathurin.

Columbus sealed the win with an empty-netter at 1:51 of the final frame.

Detroit goalie Sebastian Cossa stopped 15-of-21 shots before being replaced by Lukas Matecha, who made 12 saves.

“The consistency and our compete wasn’t there tonight,” Watson said. “When you play a team like Columbus, who when you look at their roster and how they’re built for the power play, they made us pay on it.”

NEXT UP: The Red Wings will conclude their 2023 NHL Prospect Tournament slate against the rival Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday afternoon at Centre Ice Arena. Puck drop is set for 2 p.m., and will be carried on DetroitRedWings.com, Red Wings Facebook and YouTube.

QUOTABLE

Watson on his takeaways from Saturday’s game

“I thought our start was fine. Then that second period certainly got away from us. The emotional side of it, some undisciplined penalties. Their power play certainly made us pay for those. Then you just try to claw back and get back into the game.”

Watson on Carter Mazur’s status

“With Carter, again, lower-body injury. He will not play tomorrow and will be further evaluated by the Red Wings docs here for the upcoming week.”

Hanas on the importance of each tournament game

“It’s real important for each person in the room to play these games and get the opportunity to be here. Obviously some guys are trying to showcase themselves to potentially get signed, while some guys potentially to make a team. If you can’t get up for these, it’s kind of hard not to. There’s a lot at stake for a lot of us.”