Red Wings post 7-2 rout of Blue Jackets, clinch playoff spot

Gustav Nyquist celebrates his first NHL goal with his teammates during the Red Wings' 7-2 rout of the Blue Jackets Monday night at Joe Louis Arena. (Dave Reginek/DRW)

By Michael Caples –

DETROIT – When Journey’s  “Don’t Stop Believing” starts to play at Joe Louis Arena, it usually means the Red Wings have another win all wrapped up.

Tonight, the power ballad played at the 10:09 mark of the first period. The Red Wings were already up 4-0, so the in-arena DJ must have thought he could start the party a little early.

Who could blame him?

The Red Wings embarrassed the Columbus Blue Jackets, as they coasted to a 7-2 win and secured their place in the 2012 NHL Playoffs – a franchise-record 21st straight playoff appearance.

“I don’t think we had that in mind, we just wanted to play a good game,” assistant captain Henrik Zetterberg said of the lopsided score. “I think we played a good last game here against Carolina, just wanted to come out and do the same, and I think we did.”

It was a game full of highlights for the Red Wings’ Swedes. Gustav Nyquist recorded his first NHL goal off a spinning backhand pass by Pavel Datsyuk. Tomas Holmstrom had a pair of power-play goals, breaking his two-month drought and moving him into fifth place all-time for man-advantage goals for a Swedish-born player. Zetterberg chipped in with four assists.

“I think games like this are important to get a good start,” Zetterberg said. “Getting the first goal is key, and it’s nice to see that we got some goals on the power play too, hopefully that’s going in the right direction.”

Photo of Nyquist's 1st NHL goal puck before he received it. (Michael Caples/MiHockey)

For Nyquist, it’s a play he will always remember.

“Yeah, for sure,” the Wings’ rookie said when asked if the goal was a little bit more special because of Datsyuk setting it up. “Can’t complain about it all, it was a great pass, and it’s a very special feeling.”

After an impressive third-period comeback to earn a 5-4 win Saturday night over the Hurricanes, it looks as though the Red Wings could be heating up at just the right time. They have six games left in the regular season, and are fighting for home ice in the first round of the playoffs.

“It’s great for us right now,” Nyquist said. “We had a little rough go there, but I thought we played great last game against Carolina, big comeback, and today we came out of the gate real hard, it was nice to get the lead for once, get up a few goals, and obviously get more comfortable with that and play with confidence from there, so I’m very happy with the game tonight.”

Holmstrom started the scoring off in a hurry, firing the puck into the empty net at the 1:06 mark of the first, after Henrik Zetterberg fooled Steve Mason with a cross-crease pass.

Nyquist increased the Wings’ lead to 2-0 four minutes later, roofing the puck over Mason after the highlight-reel pass from Datsyuk.

Less than a minute later, Holmstrom chipped in his second of the night, once again on a great pass from Zetterberg.

Jiri Hudler would finish off a four-goal surge in the first ten minutes of the contest when he swatted in a rebound at the right post at the 9:51 mark.

In the second period, captain Nicklas Lidstrom started off the scoring with a blast from the right face-off dot at the 6:17 mark.

Brad Stuart finished off Mason’s night, picking the corner to make it 6-0 Red Wings at the 8:34 mark of the second. The Columbus netminder finished the night with six goals on 28 shots.

Back-up goaltender Allen York, making just his seventh NHL appearance, surrendered a goal to Pavel Datsyuk at the 1:35 mark of the third period.

Columbus would crack Ty Conklin’s bid for a shutout, with Mark Letestu and Rick Nash scoring goals in the third period.