Columbus, OH – Artem Anisimov scored a pair of goals and the Columbus Blue Jackets handled the Detroit Red Wings, 4-2, on Saturday.
Mark Letestu and James Wisniewski also lit the lamp for the Blue Jackets, who snapped a two-game skid. Wisniewski left the game early in the second period with a concussion following an awkward fall into the boards.
Steve Mason made 32 saves for Columbus, which improved to 3-5-1 on the season.
Johan Franzen and Damien Brunner scored for the Red Wings, who had won two in a row. Jimmy Howard stopped 24-of-28 shots.
"Our effort wasn't good tonight. (We committed) too many mental errors out there," Detroit forward Henrik Zetterberg said. "They played better than us tonight."
The Red Wings drew first blood at the 8:36 mark of the first period. Franzen put home a rebound off Niklas Kronwall's shot from the left point.
Columbus tied the game on a power-play goal with 1:43 left in the opening frame. Wisniewski's one-timer from the point got past Howard.
A scary scene in the early stages of the second stanza ended with Wisniewski being helped off the ice. Wisniewski was chasing the puck with teammate Nick Foligno. Detroit's Justin Abdelkader trailed the two players and appeared to make contact with Foligno, who then made contact with Wisniewski. Wisniewski spun around and landed back-first against the end boards. He stayed down on the ice for several minutes before a pair of teammates helped him to the tunnel.
The Blue Jackets took the lead shortly after the injury to Wisniewski. A costly turnover by Detroit led to Anisimov's top-shelf, short side snap shot that caught Howard by surprise.
Anisimov scored again with 2:42 remaining. John Moore slid a cross-ice pass to Anisimov, who was positioned at the bottom of the left circle. Anisimov made a nice move before putting the puck past Howard, making it 3-1.
"I'm still learning (Anisimov) and his game," Columbus coach Todd Richards said. "He's a big, really responsible center. So from a coaching standpoint I see a guy who's really reliable. And then he makes offensive plays and you see another side of him. As coaches, we want guys we can trust. (Anisimov) is a guy that I trust tremendously (because of) his responsibility defensively."
Letestu put the game out of reach with a short-handed goal at the 13:25 mark of the third period.
Brunner lit the lamp with 26.4 seconds remaining to account for the final margin.
Game Notes
The Red Wings beat the Blue Jackets in a shootout on Jan. 21 ... Columbus defenseman Jack Johnson played 34:59, the most ice time in regulation for any player this season and the most for any player in franchise history ... Zetterberg had a six-game point streak snapped ... Red Wings defenseman Brendan Smith left with an upper-body injury following a first-period hit by Columbus forward Derek MacKenzie ... Blue Jackets defensemen Nikita Nikitin (upper body) and Adrian Aucoin (lower body) missed the game ... Detroit was without forward Darren Helm due to a sore back.
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