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Red Wings snap Blue Jackets' win streak at five

Nov 27, 2010 - 6:49 AM Columbus, OH (Sports Network) - Jimmy Howard made 34 stops, helping the Detroit Red Wings end the Blue Jackets' win streak with a 2-1 victory at Nationwide Arena.

Johan Franzen and Valtteri Filppula scored for the Red Wings, who had lost two of three but have now beaten Columbus in 12 of the last 16 meetings. Filppula also added an assist in the victory.

"[Howard] was really sharp," said Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock. "Both goaltenders had some work tonight, some quality chances, and both guys were up to the challenge."

Antoine Vermette scored the lone goal for Columbus, which was looking for its sixth straight victory, which would have tied a franchise-best. The Blue Jackets won six straight during the 2005-06 season, but that, too, was ended by the Red Wings.

Steve Mason stopped 30-of-32 shots in defeat.

"I hope our confidence is still up there," said Columbus head coach Scott Arniel. "It should be, because we went toe-to-toe and I thought we had lots of opportunities to win that game."

After a scoreless first period, the Red Wings got on the board in the second.

With Detroit skating on an odd-man rush, Todd Bertuzzi sent a perfect cross- ice feed to Franzen, who was able to fire the puck into a wide-open net at 7:04.

Columbus had a golden opportunity to the tie game four minutes later, but Jared Boll's first career penalty shot chance went by the wayside.

In the third period, the Red Wings doubled their lead with 11:54 to play on the power play, when Brad Stuart sent a soft pass to Filppula, who one-timed it from an awkward angle nearly parallel to the goal line. Filppula didn't get a lot on the shot, but it was enough for it to slide past Mason for a 2-0 advantage.

The Blue Jackets made it a one-goal game again a minute later on Vermette's fifth tally of the season. He was cleaning up in front of the net after a pair of shots were originally stopped by Howard, eventually sneaking one through the netminder's legs.

Jakub Voracek had a pair of opportunities to tie the game with two minutes to go, but Howard saved his first attempt from the left circle, and he missed the puck as it crossed through the crease seconds later.

Detroit was able to fend off a final attack with six skaters for Columbus.

Game Notes

This was the first meeting between the teams this season. Detroit went 5-0-1 against Columbus last year...The Red Wings took a two-point lead over the Blue Jackets for the top spot in the West...These two teams play in Detroit on Sunday.