Roslovic's hat trick lifts Blue Jackets past Red Wings

Jack Roslovic completed his second NHL hat trick at 3:19 of overtime, and the Columbus Blue Jackets recovered for a 5-4 win against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday.

"I thought Jack's game had dipped lately, but tonight he was excellent," Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen said. "He scored, obviously, but he was skating hard and using his legs."
Roslovic, who also had an assist, won it when he tapped in a backdoor pass from Gustav Nyquist near the right post.
"Whenever I can help the team by scoring goals, it is a great feeling," Roslovic said. "We've been talking a lot about finding an identity for this team, and tonight, I think you saw how we're always going to keep battling."

Zach Werenski had three assists, and Elvis Merzlikins made 34 saves for Columbus (34-33-6), which had lost eight of nine.
"That's the way we have to play," Werenski said. "It [stinks] to give up a two-goal lead in the third period, but we stuck with it and we found a way to win the game. That's how you build the kind of culture we need here."
Jakub Vrana scored twice, and Alex Nedeljkovic made 28 saves for Detroit (28-34-10), which was eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention earlier in the day.
"The last few years, we've gone into arenas knowing we didn't have much chance of winning, which is a terrible feeling," Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin said. "This season, we know we always have a chance, so that's a good step, but we're still going to miss the playoffs again."

Detroit is 4-10-4 since March 4.
"I thought we really surprised a lot of people with how well we played until these last few weeks," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "We obviously haven't been very good in this last stretch."
Roslovic gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead at 13:14 of the first period, scoring glove side from the high slot following a giveaway by Larkin.
Lucas Raymond appeared to tie it when he put in a rebound at 9:29 of the second period, but the goal was waved off because of goaltender interference on Joe Veleno.
Vrana then made it 1-1 at 13:41 of the second, skating past Vladislav Gavrikov and beating Merzlikins five-hole.
Sam Gagner put the Red Wings ahead 2-1 at 17:21, shooting into an open net off a backdoor pass from Marc Staal, but Cole Sillinger tied the game 2-2 at 18:01.
Roslovic scored his second of the game on a rebound at 4:04 of the third period to put Columbus back in front 3-2.
Justin Danforth pushed the lead to 4-2 at 12:34.
Larkin, who was playing in his 500th NHL game, cut it to 4-3 at 15:35.
"This was just another game," Larkin said. "I thought I was pretty bad tonight. It's hard to think about milestones when you've cost your team a chance to win."

Vrana tied it 4-4 off a face-off win by Pius Suter at 16:33. Vrana has 10 goals in 16 games this season since returning from shoulder surgery.
"[Vrana] has been very good in the last few games," Blashill said. "We know he's always going to score goals, but he's playing the all-around game we need from him to win games."

Detroit had the chance to take the lead late, but Merzlikins stopped Oskar Sundqvist on a breakaway with 2:51 remaining.
"I don't think we took our foot off the gas, we just made a couple mistakes while they were pushing," Werenski said. "Luckily, Elvis made that huge save on the breakaway to keep it 4-4."
NOTES:Roslovic scored his first NHL hat trick for the Winnipeg Jets in a 9-3 win against the Anaheim Ducks on Feb. 2, 2019. … Vrana has scored 18 goals in 27 games since the Red Wings acquired him in a trade with the Capitals on April 12, 2021.