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Sports

Red Wings aim to rebound against Blue Jackets

By Sports Network
Published | Updated

It's not that often that the Detroit Red Wings get shut out in their season opener.

The Red Wings try to shake off a sluggish start on Monday night as they visit the Columbus Blue Jackets, who themselves are coming off a season-opening victory.

Detroit visited the reigning Central Division-champion St. Louis Blues on Saturday and were blanked 6-0, getting outshot 36-14 in the game. That included a 17-2 disadvantage in the opening frame.

It marked the first time that the Red Wings were shut out in a season opener since Oct. 11, 1958, a 2-0 loss to the Jacques Plante-led Montreal Canadiens.

"Obviously it was not the start we wanted on the season," said Detroit center Henrik Zetterberg following his first game as the team's captain. "They were better than us in every field. It wasn't a good game."

Opening a season without retired defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom, goaltender Jimmy Howard allowed five goals on 28 shots. Jonas Gustavsson yielded a goal on eight shots in relief.

Detroit, which will play its home opener on Tuesday against Dallas, was without forward Todd Bertuzzi, who is expected to miss extended time after being diagnosed with mononucleosis.

Hoping to avoid a repeat of last season's 0-7-1 start, the Blue Jackets began the campaign on Saturday with a 3-2 shootout triumph at Nashville. Nick Foligno and Artem Anisimov had the regulation goals, while Derick Brassard had the winner in the deciding frame.

"It's a great feeling to win here," Brassard said. "What a great challenge for us to come here in the first game with some new faces and already tonight our new guys made the difference."

After being acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers during the offseason, Sergei Bobrovsky got the start over Steve Mason and settled down after yielding a goal just 39 seconds in. He made 32 saves in his Columbus debut and 5-of-6 stops in the shootout.

The Blue Jackets are hoping for an upgrade performance in net after finishing last in the NHL a season ago with 65 points.

Though the Blue Jackets bested the Red Wings in the final meeting of the 2011-12 season, the Red Wings have won six of nine and 11 of the last 15 encounters.