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Jackets snap skid in win over Detroit

Jan 15, 2011 - 5:30 AM Columbus, OH (Sports Network) - Antoine Vermette scored the lone goal of the shootout in the fourth round, as Columbus ended its five-game losing streak by topping Detroit, 3-2, in the front end of a home-and-home set at Nationwide Arena.

Vermette tallied on the backhand to open the round, and Johan Franzen could have extended the game for Detroit, but he lost control of his shot as he moved to the backhand and shoveled it wide.

Jakub Voracek and Grant Clitsome scored in the first period for the Blue Jackets, who also snapped a five-game losing skid to the Wings.

Steve Mason got the win -- his first since December 31 -- with 26 stops.

"We try to make sure everybody is on their heels a little bit, especially their skill players," said Columbus head coach Scott Arniell. "We're in a fight for points and we gotta play our best every night."

Drew Miller and Jiri Hudler connected for the Red Wings, losers of two straight after winning three in a row. They will get a shot at redemption on Saturday at Joe Louis Arena.

Starter Jimmy Howard left the game before the end of the first period with a bruised right knee after allowing a pair of goals on 11 shots. He is listed as day-to-day but the club will recall netminder Thomas McCallum from Grand Rapids of the AHL.

"We didn't skate very good in the first period and that was our undoing," said Detroit head coach Mike Babcock. "We played better as the game went on, but it wasn't enough."

Joey MacDonald suffered the loss despite stopping all 21 shots he faced in 52- plus minutes of action.

Detroit announced following the game that forward Tomas Holmstrom suffered a broken hand late in the contest.

Columbus took a 1-0 lead just 4:05 into the contest as Voracek followed an errant shot from Rick Nash off the left boards and shot it past Howard.

The Blue Jackets had a 5-on-3 for more than a minute just after the midway point of the first, and went up by two on Clitsome's right-point blast at 11:51.

Less than a minute later, Howard was felled when he went down to block a shot from Derick Brassard and had to be helped off the ice.

Miller halved Detroit's deficit with a solo short-handed rush at 5:14 of the second period and Hudler evened the game at 8:05 by tipping in a Valtteri Filppula shot.

Neither club was able to net a winner in the third period, but the Red Wings managed to escape a penalty in the final 30 seconds that bled into overtime.

Game Notes

The Jackets hadn't beaten the Wings since a 1-0 overtime decision on December 28, 2009...Columbus has allowed a short-handed goal in four straight games...Prior to the game, the Wings announced that defenseman Brad Stuart underwent successful surgery to repair a broken jaw, which involved two plates to stabilize fractures incurred when Flames forward Tom Kostopoulos elbowed him in the face.