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First Posted: 1/21/2013

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(AP) Swiss rookie Damien Brunner scored in the fourth round of the shootout to lead the Detroit Red Wings to a 4-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday night before 19,206, the largest regular-season crowd at Nationwide Arena in the Blue Jackets’ 11-plus seasons.


Brian Lashoff scored in his NHL debut and fellow defenseman Ian White also scored for Detroit, which finally got on the board twice in the second period after being humiliated 6-0 in their opener on Saturday night in St. Louis. Pavel Datsyuk had a goal to send the game into overtime with 6 minutes remaining in overtime, and also had an assist.


Cam Atkinson, James Wisniewski and Vinny Prospal scored goals during regulation for Columbus, which was coming off a 3-2 shootout win at Nashville on Saturday night.


Columbus was playing its first home game without Rick Nash, the team captain and franchise record holder for games, goals and points, since the end of the 2001-2002 season. He was sent to the New York Rangers along with a minor-league defenseman and a conditional third-round pick for forwards Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, defenseman Tim Erixon and a first-round pick.


Jimmy Howard had 30 saves for the Red Wings. Sergei Bobrovsky matched him stop for stop for Columbus with 39 saves.


Down 2-1 entering the third period, the Blue Jackets pulled even on a power play. Wisniewski’s one-timer from just inside the blue line a low, rising shot beat Howard on the glove side.


They then took the lead on another man-advantage after Kyle Quincey was called for interference on R.J. Umberger the Blue Jackets’ third consecutive power play in the third period.


Cycling the puck, the Blue Jackets’ Nikita Nikitin blasted a big one-timer that sailed over the cage and off the glass. It filtered all the way through congestion in front of the net. Prospal collected it at the right hash mark and scored.


The Red Wings weren’t done however. As a power play was ending, Henrik Zetterberg dug the puck out of the corner and fed Niklas Kronwall who faked and then fed Datsyuk who had crept in behind Bobrovsky and the defense to score easily with just over 6 minutes remaining.


In the shootout, Atkinson opened with a goal for the Blue Jackets but it was disallowed after a video review.


Neither team scored through three rounds. After Howard stopped Matt Calvert, Brunner skated to the right and then pulled the puck back to his left and forced it under the right leg pad of Bobrovski. It also was reviewed, but was confirmed.


The Red Wings ended a scoreless string of 81:10 to start the season when Lashoff’s hard shot from the left point eluded Bobrovsky, thanks in part to traffic provided in front of the net by Johan Franzen.


Lashoff had been playing for Grand Rapids of the AHL and was recalled after defenseman Jonathan Ericsson stepped on a puck and crashed into the boards, injuring his shoulder in the Red Wings’ opener at St. Louis.


The 22-year-old scored just two goals in 36 games with the Grand Rapids Griffins this season.


Detroit made it 2-0 later in the period with both teams a man down. Franzen slid a pass through the slot left to right in front of the Columbus goal, setting up White who lifted the puck into the top of the net.


Just over a minute later, the Blue Jackets narrowed the gap back to a goal when Atkinson took a pass from Ryan Johansen and then slipped past defenseman Brendan Smith. He swooped in on Howard, deked and then slid a forehand under the goalie’s outstretched left foot.


The Red Wings had the better of the action in the opening period, but still didn’t dent the scoreboard. That was due to the play of Bobrovsky, who made several acrobatic stops while turning aside 15 shots. That was a substantial improvement for the Wings over the first period in St. Louis, where they were outshot 17-2.


Just 3 seconds after the puck was dropped at the start of the game, Detroit’s Jordin Tootoo and Columbus’ Jared Boll longtime antagonists squared off for a lengthy slugfest near center ice. That electrified a capacity crowd at Nationwide Arena.


Notes: Detroit RW Todd Bertuzzi, thought to be suffering from mononucleosis, was diagnosed Monday with the flu. He did not play, but is listed as day to day. … The Blue Jackets came on the ice for warmups wearing jerseys numbered 1 with Thank You Fans printed where the player’s name is. The jerseys were then given to fans. … The Red Wings play their first home game Tuesday night against Dallas. After playing their first two games on the road, they play four of the next five at Joe Louis Arena. … Five new players played their first home game for the Blue Jackets: Bobrovsky, Anisimov, LW Nick Foligno, D Adrian Aucoin and Dubinsky. … Detroit recalled GT Tom McCollum from Grand Rapids to back up Howard in place of Jonas Gustavsson, who was also injured Saturday.


Associated Press