DETROIT _ A good performance was undone by goaltending at both ends of the rink.
The Detroit Red Wings couldn't finish enough chances against Sergei Bobrovsky and didn't get enough saves from Petr Mrazek Friday at Joe Louis Arena, leading to a 4-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Dylan Larkin scored on a power play but the Blue Jackets scored three times, including short-handed, on 17 shots to chase Mrazek just past the midway point. Jimmy Howard took over in his first game back since a groin injury.
A third power play early in the third period saw Bobrovsky make a stop on a Henrik Zetterberg slap shot. Thomas Vanek tried a slap shot from the left circle and had another chance from just outside the crease. Howard went to the bench with nearly three minutes still to play in regulation for an extra attacker. Columbus got an empty-net goal with seconds to spare. Bobrovsky finished with 31 saves.
Defenseman Jonathan Ericsson missed the game because of back spasms. Three minutes into the game, the Wings gave up a short-handed goal when Cam Atkinson collected the puck after Mrazek had made a save, took off up the ice, and lifted a shot that went in off the posts.
Otherwise the Wings did a lot of things well, funneling pucks at Bobrovsky. Anthony Mantha took a shot that almost deflected in but puck luck wasn't on Detroit's side. Larkin weaved around a pair of defenders only to be denied by Bobrovsky. Mantha got the door shut on him on a breakaway. Bobrovsky made 11 saves in the period.
A second power play early in the second period went better. Frans Nielsen sent the puck to Vanek, who wired a shot through traffic from the right circle. Larkin sent the rebound up and over Bobrovsky for a tie game at 4:46. Things heated up minutes later when Steve Ott and Scott Hartnell engaged in a spirited fight.
The Blue Jackets retook the lead by 8:34, when Brandon Dubinsky scored after Mrazek had left his net to get to the puck, gloved it long enough to be a penalty, but then put it back in play. Dubinsky scored as Mrazek scrambled back, while teammates were tied up in a corner scrum.
At 13:30 Lukas Sedlak made it 3-1 on a backhand rebound, ending Mrazek's night.
Riley Sheahan created a turnover that led to a chance down low, but he remains in search of his first goal. Howard kept the score within reach with a doorstep save on Brandon Saad. Nielsen's line had a good shift that saw Larkin send a backhand into Bobrovsky, who made his 21st save in the last minute of the second period when he stopped a Danny DeKeyser slap shot.
