Red Wings vs. Columbus Blue Jackets 3-12-15

Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard stops a shot from Blue Jackets right wing Cam Atkinson (13) shot as defenseman Niklas Kronwall (55) defends in the first period.

(AP Photo)

DETROIT - A successful road trip against Western Conference teams to close out February put the Detroit Wings within striking distance of first place in the Atlantic Division.

The Red Wings earned nine of a possible 12 points and were putting heat on the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning atop the division.

But while they were eyeing first place, the Boston Bruins had the Red Wings squarely in their sights. And now that the Red Wings are slumping in March, the Bruins have suddenly turned things around and are just five points behind Detroit in the Atlantic.

The Red Wings lost Thursday for the third time in five games, falling 3-1 to the pesky Columbus Blue Jackets at Joe Louis Arena after posting a 4-1-1 record on a Western Conference road trip that included victories over Chicago, Dallas, San Jose and Nashville.

Boston, meanwhile, has gone 7-2-1 in its last 10 games and has made up six points in five days on the Red Wings, whose slump has left them six points behind both Montreal and Tampa Bay in the Atlantic.

"I don't know if it's a misstep or what you'd call it but I think it's not like we're going out and trying to lose games," captain Henrik Zetterberg said after the loss to Columbus. "We try to do the right things out there. Of course, in a season you won't be perfect all the time.

"We're in one of those periods now when it doesn't really go our way. We've just got to get stronger from it, get through it. I'd rather be us than be Boston right now."

The Red Wings' recent problems have started on the defensive end.

During the five games since the Western trip ended, the Red Wings have allowed five goals twice and have a goals-against average of 3.20.

They're making it hard on themselves by not doing little things like making good outlet passes and that ultimately makes life more difficult for goaltender Jimmy Howard, according to veteran defenseman Niklas Kronwall.

"It's way too loose," Kronwall said. "In our own zone defensively, we're not very good right now. We have to do a way better job. That's where everything starts. We have to execute a lot better than we have.

"Looking at the first period alone, where you give them too many chances, Howie had to stand on his head at times to keep us in the game. That's just not good enough. We have to do a way better job. I got to do a way better job than I have lately.

"As a unit, we have to do a lot better."

The Red Wings jumped in front against Columbus when Justin Abdelkader opened the scoring on the power play at 7:49 of the first period, redirecting a shot from the point by Marek Zidlicky for his career-high 18th goal.

But the Blue Jackets tied it less than five minutes later on a goal by Fedor Tyutin and went ahead for good when Zidlicky left Scott Hartnell all alone in the slot and Hartnell one-timed a pass from Artem Anisimov past Howard with 3:36 left.

"We had lots of shots and lots of power plays in the first but defensively we made big mistakes," said coach Mike Babcock. "We turned the puck over on the first two goals at the far blue line. We still had lots of time to get in good spots.

"On the first goal we turned it over a couple of times in our own zone and then on the second goal we had poor D-zone coverage. I thought our penalty kill was outstanding. Didn't give up anything, didn't give up anything and then Boom! The guy walks right in.

"So any way you look at it ... we didn't give up a ton of chances but the chances we gave up we didn't give our goalie a chance to help us, if that makes any sense."

The Blue Jackets added an insurance marker with 1:30 left in the second period with a slick power-play goal by Cam Atkinson.

David Savard carried the puck up the ice but put the brakes on just before entering the Red Wings' zone.

He left a drop pass for Atkinson, who was streaking up the ice behind him and raced past the Red Wings' defenders before firing a wrist shot over Howard's glove into the upper-right corner of the net.

The Red Wings (37-18-11) outshot the Blue Jackets 13-1 in the third period and 42-26 but couldn't get another one past former Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky.

"In the end we weren't able to score enough goals," Babcock said. "We had opportunity early. I thought our opportunities dried up as the game went on. I thought they competed harder, they boxed out harder.

"I didn't think we got to the net, even though we had shots. I didn't think we had the same quality of chances late."

Columbus (29-34-4) improved its record vs. the Red Wings to 9-2-1 in their last 12 meetings.

"I didn't even know it was that bad," Kronwall said. "They're a good team. They're a strong team. For whatever reason it's always been very tough games."

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