COLUMBUS, Ohio — Detroit coach Mike Babcock was full of praise Tuesday night, a complete reversal after his team’s sluggish play in a loss to Montreal two days earlier.
Jimmy Howard made 28 saves for his 19th career shutout, and Tomas Tatar and Tomas Jurco each had a goal and an assist to lift the Red Wings past the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-0 on Tuesday night.
“It’s that consistency that you’re looking for,” Babcock said. “It’s a real good challenge for our guys. I thought Howie was really good. We got leadership out of Kronwell and Zetterberg and the rest of the guys did their thing.”
Gustav Nyquist, Riley Sheahan and Darren Helm also scored and Brendan Smith added two assists to help Detroit snap a three-game road winless skid. The Red Wings scored twice on the power play and put the game out of reach with three third-period goals.
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Babcock wanted his team to shoot the puck more, and they did. They took a season-high of 40.
“We haven’t been shooting the puck like we should,” he said. “We were always looking for a pass. Tonight we shot the puck and were rewarded.”
Columbus’ back-to-back wins — after a franchise-tying nine straight losses — ended as the Red Wings won most of the puck battles to control the tempo. Columbus did have scoring chances, but they failed to generate sustained pressure.
“They did a good job of clogging up the neutral zone, denying speed through,” Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards said. “Our execution wasn’t good. I didn’t make an adjustment probably quick enough so we could get (the puck) in.”
Sergei Bobrovky, who finished with 35 saves, didn’t have his best form in his second start in row since missing eight with a broken finger.
Babcock implored his squad to start fast and be more competitive after a sluggish 4-1 loss to visiting Montreal on Sunday. The Red Wings did just with Tatar scoring at 10:17 of the first to give Detroit the lead. He snapped home a loose puck from the slot for his sixth of the season.
Howard, playing his 300th game — fourth most for a goalie in franchise history — made a kick save of Scott Hartnell’s drive from close range to maintain the lead.
The Blue Jackets thought they pulled even with 1:42 left in the period, but Boone Jenner’s goal-mouth jam was overturned after video review. Officials ruled Jenner scored with a distinct kicking motion, even though he appeared to be off balance on the play. He proceed to land on his back.
“It takes a little bit of wind out of your sails but I still thought the bench was positive and guys were ready to work and move along,” Richards said. “It’s disappointing but there was still lots of hockey.”
Jenner was involved in the next big play, taking a tripping penalty 40 seconds into the second period. Detroit scored on the ensuing power play when Nyquist lifted a shot in tight past Bobrovksy for his team-leading ninth at 1:44.
The Red Wings put things out of reach early in the third period scoring twice in 1:12.
Off a faceoff win, Jurco snapped a near side shot from the left circle past Bobrovsky for his first at 4:49 on the man advantage. Sheahan netted his third, easily sliding home a nifty feed from Tatar.
Helm closed it out with his third at 18:59 from the right circle.
“We all knew we didn’t have a great game,” Howard said referring to the 4-1 loss at home to the Canadiens. “Over the course of the season those things are going to happen. I think we did a great job bouncing back tonight.”
Notes: The Red Wings’ goalie games played leaders are Terry Sawchuk (734), Chris Osgood (565), Harry Lumley (324) and Howard. …The fellow Columbus regulars are on injured reserve: RW Nathan Horton (back), C Brandon Dubinksy (abdomen), C Mark Letestu (groin), D Fedor Tyutin (knee), and D Ryan Murray (knee). Forwards Matt Calvert and Jack Skille were cleared to play but coach Todd Richards opted to keep his winning-streak group intact. … Detroit C Pavel Datsyuk sat out with a nagging groin injury that’s had him in and out of the lineup of late. … The Blue Jackets entered 7-1-1 in their past nine games and with four straight wins at home against the Red Wings.
