Red Wings' Late Rally Falls Short In Preseason Finale vs. Blue Jackets

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The Detroit Red Wings had no trouble generating shots during their preseason finale against the Columbus Blue Jackets, but they simply ran into a hot goaltender.

Blue Jackets netminder Jet Greaves stopped 31 shots, helping Columbus weather a third-period Red Wings rally and secure a 4-2 victory at Little Caesars Arena.

Unsigned RFA Simon Edvinsson, who remains unable to play without a contract, and former captain Dylan Larkin, who continues to recover from an off-ice training injury, didn't appear in any of Detroit's four exhibition contests. 

Columbus struck first on the power play, as Charlie Coyle tipped home a pass from Kirill Marchenko while parked in front of the net.

First-year Blue Jackets forward Valeri Nichushkin, acquired during the offseason from the Colorado Avalanche, doubled the Columbus lead with his second of the preseason with 1:16 remaining in the opening frame. 

Shortly into the second period, Blue Jackets forward Jack Williams beat Detroit's John Gibson with a glove-side shot, giving Columbus a three-goal cushion. While Detroit continued to fire pucks on net, Greaves stood his ground. 

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A seeing-eye shot from defenseman Ben Chiarot at 6:39 of the third period finally put Detroit on the board, giving the Red Wings some life. Marco Kasper won the faceoff and fed Chiarot, who beat Greaves from the point through traffic.

Detroit pulled within one at 14:19 when Michael Rasmussen slipped the puck through Greaves' pads. The goal came on a broken play, as Kasper carried the puck over the blue line and fanned on his shot, leaving it to slide onto Rasmussen's stick in tight. 

Despite pulling Gibson late in regulation, the Red Wings couldn't come up with the equalizer; Columbus sealed the win with 10.4 seconds left courtesy of an empty net tally from Cole Sillinger.

Gibson finished with 18 saves, while both Chiarot and Kasper each picked up two points. 

There were fireworks in the third period when Detroit's Alex DeBrincat was leveled from behind by Carson Soucy. Lucas Raymond immediately came to his teammate's defense, wrestling Soucy to the ice as DeBrincat slowly made his way to the bench.

Thankfully, DeBrincat appeared to be no worse for wear and remained in the game.

Now, the Red Wings will turn their attention to trimming down their roster by Monday while preparing for the regular season, which officially begins on Oct. 2 against the New York Rangers.

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