RECAP: Red Wings shut out Blue Jackets, 4-0, in Reimer's 'special' debut 

COLUMBUS – Goalie James Reimer made a strong first impression in his Detroit Red Wings debut on Monday night, stopping all 23 shots he faced to blank the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-0, at Nationwide Arena.

“That’s pretty much how you draw it up, right?” Reimer said with a smile. “The way the guys battled tonight was impressive. It was an emotional win on Saturday, so sometimes maybe there’s a little bit of a hangover and we weren’t as sharp as we wanted to be in the first. But after that, the last 40 (minutes) we just buckled down. Pretty special to see the way the guys worked.”

With the win, Detroit improved to 2-1-0 (4 points) overall this season, while Columbus dropped to 1-2-0 (2 points).

Shayne Gostisbehere gave Detroit a 1-0 lead at 8:51 of the first period, one-timing Joe Veleno’s feed while open in the slot to beat Columbus goalie Spencer Martin. Olli Maatta added an assist on Gostisbehere’s first goal with the Red Wings.

“James Reimer was the difference in the first period,” Detroit head coach Derek Lalonde said. “We did not defend very well and gave up some easy slot looks, which we haven’t really done through camp or this year. He was there to bail us out. Very fortunate to get out of that period 1-0.”

The Red Wings went ahead by a pair at 7:45 of the second when J.T. Compher stole the puck in the offensive zone before setting up Michael Rasmussen. Then at 11:11, captain Dylan Larkin, who was assisted by Alex DeBrincat and Moritz Seider, scored a power-play goal to make it 3-0.

Just 56 seconds later, Andrew Copp extended it to 4-0 when he buried a rebound on a shot from Lucas Raymond on a power play. Jake Walman picked up the secondary assist on Detroit’s third goal of the middle frame.

“We had a really good second period,” Lalonde said. “We earned ourselves that second goal to go up, 2-0, and then the power play took over from there.”

Klim Kostin and Blue Jackets defenseman Erik Gudbranson dropped the gloves just past the halfway mark of what ended as a scoreless third, with Gudbranson responding to a hit by Kostin on forward Cole Sillinger in Columbus’ defensive zone.

“It’s really special to get a shutout your first game,” Reimer said. “I’m pretty sure I’m not going to get 80 more shutouts, but it’s a testament to our structure and compete tonight.”

NEXT UP: The Red Wings will return to Little Caesars Arena to host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night.

QUOTABLE

Lalonde on Reimer’s demeanor

“Huge boost for us. Absolute pro. Competes unbelievably hard in there. Again, he had a really good camp. I expected him to play well tonight, just with how well his camp went, and he did.”

Lalonde on Detroit’s special teams this season

“The special teams have been really good through camp. Detailed and clicking very well. You would hope it would continue into the regular season, obviously it’s always different, but it has. Hopefully, we keep building on that.”

Reimer on the Red Wings’ play against the Blue Jackets

“We just took the game over. I’m happy with the way I played, but just watch the game tape. The way these guys played, dominated and pushed the puck to areas where I could see it and clear rebounds was just…they played great.”

Reimer on the added comfortability of manning the crease with a lead

“You play the same way no matter what. You always have confidence in your team, but it allows you to make sure you’re at your spots and not overplaying or overthinking. Just let the puck come to you.”