NHL

NHL Stadium Series Fans Respond To Columbus Blue Jackets Claiming Home-And-Home Matchups Vs. Detroit Red Wings 

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By
Jeff Hawkins
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Jeff Hawkins Sports Editor

Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry, in both print and digital media. He joined the Sportscasting team in 2021 following a decade of freelancing. He spent his early career as a reporter for various newspapers in Illinois, New York, Florida, North Carolina, and Michigan, with a particular emphasis as a beat reporter for the Chicago Blackhawks. Jeff earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from Oakland University. Over the course of his career he earned several sports writing awards, including two national awards from the Associated Press Sports Editors for column writing and news reporting. One of the five prized columns included a commentary on NASCAR's increasing corporate influences, particularly in northern racetracks — commentary which you might find Jeff building on as part of the Motorsports writing team at Sportscasting now.  

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Published01 Mar 2025

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nhl stadium series columbus celebrates goal (1)

Not many NHL insiders expected the Columbus Blue Jackets to be competitive, let alone contend for a playoff berth. The Blue Jackets served notice Saturday night, securing a 5-3 victory over the Detroit Red Wings in a Stadium Series matchup at Ohio Stadium. The showcase attracted more than 90,000 fans, making it the second-most attended league game in history. 

The Blue Jackets (30-22-8) moved two points ahead of the Red Wings (30-34-6) for the top Eastern Conference wild-card spot. 

After attempting to overcome the sudden death of heart-and-soul player Johnny Gaudreau last August, most league insiders didn’t think the roster had enough to qualify for the postseason for the first time since 2020. 

After scoring seven combined second-period goals against the Red Wings in the back-to-back wins, the Blue Jackets appear to gaining team-wide confidence.  

X (Twitter) users responded to the Stadium Series’ atmosphere in “The Shoe” … 

Classy Red Wings’ special pre-game tribute to Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, who were killed after being struck by a car while riding their bikes last offseason …

Birdseye view of Ohio Stadium on Saturday … 

Taking public transportation to work … 

The Blue Jackets were led by Johnny Hockey’s family … 

Scoring the franchise’s first outdoors goal, rookie Denton Mateychuk connected on his third goal in 23 career games, 5:31 into the second period. The Blue Jackets opened the scoring for a league-high 37th time this season … 

 The Red Wings’ power play continues to carry the offense. After Alex DeBrincat tied the game at 13:06 and extended his scoring streak to nine games. The Red Wings’ man-advantage unit’s scoring percentage rose to 30 percent, the second-best in the league. Then there’s the squad’s penalty kill. The Red Wings entered the weekend with the worst special-teams unit in the league (70 percent) and ranks fourth-worse all-time … 

Taking advantage of the Red Wings’ historically bad penalty kill, Dimitry Voronkov connected on the power play, giving the Blue Jackets a 2-1 lead at 17:23. Their man-advantage unit entered Saturday with just one goal in their previous 20 opportunities … 

Thirty-two seconds later, the Blue Jackets’ second-period scoring assault continued as Mathieu Olivier executed a quality forecheck, gained possession of the puck and beat goalie Cam Talbot With a backhander. Oliver’s 12 games were a career-high… 

With the Red Wings on a full-scale offensive surge, future Hall of Famer Patrick Kane scored his fourth in six games at 3:34 of the third period. At the time, the Red Wings generated all eight to start the frame …   

 DeBrincat scored his second to tie the game at 16:36. During his nine-game point streak, he’s registered nine goals. The momentum didn’t last long … 

Fifty-three seconds later, Blue Jackets’ Justin Danforth sealed the home-and-home series sweep with his sixth goal of the season. Adam Fantilli closed the scoring with an empty netter, assisted by Zach Werenski. Both Fantilli and Werenski are former Michigan standouts … 

Final score: Blue Jackets 5, Red Wings 3 … 

 The final cannon before an announced crowd of 94,751 …