Filppula Lifts Red Wings Past Blue Jackets
DETROIT (AP) — Valtteri Filppula scored in the fourth round of a shootout to give the Detroit Red Wings their 16th straight home victory, 3-2 over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night.
The 16-game home winning streak tied Detroit with the 1975-76 Boston Bruins for the fourth-longest home winning streak in NHL history.
Niklas Kronwall and Nicklas Lidstrom scored for the Red Wings in regulation, and Jimmy Howard made 17 saves. Ryan Russell and Nikita Nikitin scored for Columbus, and Curtis Sanford stopped 29 shots.
The teams traded power-play goals in the second period.
Lidstrom tied it at 2, with 8:57 left in the period when his slap shot from the point bounced off the end boards and deflected in off Sanford's pads for Lidstrom's 10th goal.
Nikitin gave the Blue Jackets a 2-1 lead 8:43 into the period with a wrist shot from the high slot. Russell opened the scoring 8:51 into the game with his second goal. He put in a rebound off the heel of Howard's glove.
Kronwall tied it with 8:26 left in the first period when he beat Sanford from the high slot off the rush. It was Kronwall's 11th goal.
Nikitin was pushed into the boards by Henrik Zetterberg from behind during a Red Wings' power play with 9:51 remaining and had to be helped off the ice with an apparent leg injury. Zetterberg received a boarding major and a game misconduct.
NOTES: Columbus signed former Detroit defenseman Brett Lebda on Thursday. He was a healthy scratch Saturday night. ... The Red Wings had only three goals on their previous 42 power plays before Lidstrom connected in the second period.
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