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Fedorov scores twice as Blue Jackets defeat Red Wings

Dec 19, 2006 - 4:23 AM COLUMBUS, Ohio (Ticker) -- Thanks to Sergei Fedorov, the Columbus Blue Jackets finally got a home win against the Detroit Red Wings.

Fedorov had two goals and an assist as the Blue Jackets downed the Red Wings, 4-3, for their first home win over Detroit after seven consecutive defeats.

The last time the Blue Jackets beat Detroit at home was on November 20, 2003.

Fedorov played 13 seasons with the Red Wings - from 1990 to 2003 - and was a member of three Stanley Cup championship clubs in 1997, 1998 and 2002.

"I think it was a tough game all the way around," Fedorov said. "It was big in the first to be able to score three goals. Then in the second period we struggled a little, and Detroit is a good puck possession team and they move well in the zone, and it took everything we had to defend that.

We were able to catch them off guard in the first and score some goals and hold on to win."

Fedorov's second goal turned out to be the game-winner. He skated in on a 2-on-1, took a pass from David Vyborny in the slot and one-timed a shot past goaltender Chris Osgood for a 4-2 lead at 18:08 of the third period.

"It was a great pass from David Vyborny and I think the goalie was leaning a little that way," Fedorov said. "I was able to get the puck on net and in. It turned out being a pretty big goal."

Fedorov's first goal gave the Blue Jackets a 3-0 lead with 1:22 left in the first period. He took a pass in the slot from Vyborny and blasted a shot between the pads of goaltender Dominik Hasek.

"We played well after that, but everyone knows it's a sixty-minute game," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said of the the first period. "You have to be prepared at the start. You have to assert your will on them. For whatever reason, we didn't execute.

"They won all the 50-50 battles in the first, but I thought we played well after the first period. We really responded from that point on. In the end we had every opportunity, but sometimes it doesn't go your way."

Vyborny had three assists, giving him one goal and five assists in his last two games.

Hasek was lifted after the first period, in which he allowed three goals on 12 shots. Osgood played the last two periods and recorded 13 saves.

"It was probably the worst period of the season," Hasek said. "I was part of it. What can I say? I made some mistakes, the team made some mistakes and we got down 3-0. It's not easy to come back if you are down 3-0 after the first 20 minutes."

Rick Nash and Jason Chimera scored the other Columbus goals while Fredrik Norrena made 33 saves. Robert Lang had two goals for Detroit and Jiri Hudler had the other tally.

"I got into the game pretty well," Norrena said. "It was a good comeback for me personally after Saturday's game against Chicago. You could see as a team that we were hungry from the first second of the game tonight and deserved to win the game."

"He (Norrena) was good," Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock said. "He was good in the second and third. It was good to see him get back and do some good things. He has had a couple of rough outings; the game here (against Chicago) was rough because every bounce went against him. He was solid tonight."

The Blue Jackets improved to 7-4-1 since Hitchcock took over as coach on November 22.

"The importance is learning how to win in games like this," Hitchcock said. "We are still learning how to win like a team. Everyone knew we were being watched, being the only game at 7 p.m. Also, we have to learn how to play with the lead. We sat back on our lead and relied on our goaltender in the second period too much. These are all learning-curve issues that we could continue to work on."