RECAP: Red Wings can't overcome early deficit to Blue Jackets in 4-3 loss

DETROIT -- The Detroit Red Wings' third-period rally fell short in a 4-3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night at Little Caesars Arena.

Columbus scored three goals in a 2:43 span in the first period, then forward Patrik Laine completed a hat trick at 1:32 of the second to give the Blue Jackets a 4-0 lead.
"We weren't ourselves the first or the second," head coach Derek Lalonde said. "It's just frustrating because you give up way too much easy offense to their skill."
Olli Maatta, Jake Walman and Lucas Raymond beat Columbus goalie Elvis Merzlikins for three straight goals in the third to bring Detroit back within one, but the Red Wings couldn't manage to tie the game despite pulling goaltender Ville Husso late in the final frame.
"We care," captain Dylan Larkin said. "We care about trying to turn this around and trying to make the playoffs. It hasn't been talked enough, but it's talked about in our locker room and we care about that. We're trying to make a strong push here before the trade deadline."
Husso made 21 saves for Detroit (18-16-7 overall) which finished its homestand with a 2-1-0 record. And with 43 points at the halfway mark of the season, the Red Wings have posted their highest point total through the first 41 games of a season since totaling 49 points to begin the 2015-16 campaign.
With the victory, the Blue Jackets snapped a 10-game road losing streak to improve to 13-27-2 (28 points) on the season.
NEXT UP:Detroit will start a three-game western road trip on Monday afternoon, squaring off against the defending Stanley Cup-champion Colorado Avalanche in a rare 1 p.m. puck drop from Ball Arena in recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
REMINDER: The NHL All-Star Fan Vote is still open at NHL.com/VOTE and closes on Tuesday, Jan. 17. Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin was named to the initial 32-man roster for the 2023 NHL All-Star Game, which will be held at FLA Live Arena on Saturday, Feb. 4.
The 2023 NHL All-Star Fan Vote also features a Twitter vote, which opened on Thursday, Jan. 12 at 12:01 a.m. ET and will run until Saturday, Jan. 14, at 11:59 p.m. ET. All Twitter votes will be combined with online vote totals. Each fan tweet must include the complete hashtag "NHLAllStarVote" followed by a player's full name or a Twitter handle.

SCORING SUMMARY

Columbus 1, Detroit 0 (12:47, 1st period)
Johnny Gaudreau's behind-the-goal-line pass went to Patrik Laine, who was in alone on the backdoor for a one-timer.
Columbus 2, Detroit 0 (13:53, 1st period)
Kent Johnson's initial shot from the slot was blocked by Husso, but Vladislav Gavrikov grabbed the loose puck and pushed it in to double Columbus' lead.
Columbus 3, Detroit 0 (15:30, 1st period)
Jack Roslovic's shot rebounded to Laine, who found twine for his second goal of the frame to mark the Blue Jackets' first three-goal first period of the season.
Columbus 4, Detroit 0 (1:32, 2nd period)
Less than two minutes into the second period, Laine buried a cross-ice pass from Adam Boqvist to notch his 10th career hat trick.
Detroit 1, Columbus 4 (5:50, 3rd period)
Dominik Kubalik took a pass from Larkin inside the right faceoff circle, then pushed the puck across the slot to Maatta. After Maatta's shot hit Columbus forward Mathieu Olivier's stick, it bounced off his skate and into the net past Merzlikins to put Detroit on the board.

Detroit 2, Columbus 4 (7:08, 3rd period)
Walman extended his point streak to four straight games and cut the Red Wings' deficit in half when he buried a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle.

Detroit 3, Columbus 4 (15:56, 3rd period)
Ben Chiarot fed Filip Hronek in the left faceoff circle, then Hronek sent a lightning-quick pass to Raymond in the slot. Raymond made a nifty move to his backhand and scored for his 13th tally of the season.

QUOTABLE

Lalonde on Laine's big night against Detroit
"Full credit to Laine, whose finishes - all three- were world-class. What he is, one of the best finishers in the world. But it was just too easy for him. It was the play away from him, once it got on his stick…We just were too easy on their skill and obviously it burned us tonight."
Larkin on the difference between the Red Wings' play in the first and third periods
"We probably decided to show up in the third and ran out of time. Unfortunately, we just didn't start. We didn't battle enough, let their top line have time and space, let them just float through without stopping and making it hard on them."
Larkin on his club's struggles over the first 40 minutes versus the Blue Jackets
"There was no jump, no life on our bench. We were kind of just looking around and waiting for something good to happen, and it didn't."