NHL: Red Wings defeat Blue Jackets 4-1

The Red Wings beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1 today withTomas Holmstroms scoring twice to move into first place in the NHL.

Brett Lebda had a goal and an assist while Pavel Datsyuk also scored on the slapshot for Detroit. There were a game-breaking 3 goals in the second period.

The Red Wings have a 3-0-3 record for the last three games, for a total of 108 points, surpassing The Buffalo Sabres in the race to be the team with the most regular season points to win the President's Trophy.

The Red Wings have won five straight Central Division titles, and increased their division lead to three points over Nashville for this season. There are three games remaining for both teams.

Rick Nash with a wraparound for the Blue Jackets with just 59 seconds left, Nash's 25th goal this season. This ended goaltender Dominik Hasek's bid for his 76th career shutout. The Blue Jackets had 32 shots.

Columbus has lost three games straight. This is just after a 4-game winning streak.

Scoring

1st period

None

2nd Period

Detroit: 01:57 PPG - BRETT LEBDA, - Assists: MIKAEL SAMUELSSON and ROBERT LANG

Detroit : 10:27 TOMAS HOLMSTROM, - Assists: JIRI HUDLER and BRETT LEBDA

Detroit: 17:16 SHG - PAVEL DATSYUK,- Assists: none

3rd Period Scoring

Detroit: 00:49 TOMAS HOLMSTROM, - Assists: KRIS DRAPER and DANIEL CLEARY

Columbus: 19:01 RICK NASH, - Assists: MARC METHOT

Wackynews

A Detroit fan threw an octopus on the ice. This is normally a tradition at the Joe Louis arena whenever a hat-trick occurs.

Three Stars

. Det: T. Holmstrom

. Det: D. Hasek

. Det: B. Lebba