Red Wings fall to Blue Jackets Saturday night in Columbus

The Red Wings’ streak of picking up points in the standings came to a close on Saturday night, as the club dropped a 4-2 decision to the Blue Jackets in Columbus.

Artem Anisimov – acquired in the Rick Nash trade with the New York Rangers last July – scored twice for the Jackets, while a pair of Michigan connections bracketed the Russian’s goals. Canton native James Wisniewski scored late in the first period, while former Western Michigan Bronco Mark Letestu added the final goal in a shorthanded strike for Columbus.

Detroit had won three of their last four games, and picked up a point in an overtime loss to Chicago on Jan. 27, heading into the game with Columbus.

Johan Franzen opened the scoring, burying a rebound on a point shot from Niklas Kronwall. Damien Brunner scored with 27 seconds remaining to pull the Red Wings within two.

Jimmy Howard stopped 24 of 28 shots; the Wings’ goaltender described his performance as “awful with a capital A” to Fox Sports Detroit’s John Keating. Howard has played in all eight of the Red Wings’ games this season since it started on Jan. 19.

Steve Mason stopped 32 of 34 for the Blue Jackets.

Both teams ran into injury trouble in the contest. Brendan Smith left after only skating for 3:13 in what has been described as an upper-body injury. Meanwhile, Wisniewski left the game early, after only skating for 9:23.

The Red Wings return home for a Tuesday night contest against Jiri Hudler and the Calgary Flames Tuesday night; puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.