Berggren's breakaway goal lifts Red Wings to dramatic win against Blue Jackets

Ted Kulfan, The Detroit News on Jan 2, 2025

Published in Hockey

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COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Detroit Red Wings continue to make strides under new coach Todd McLellan.

This time in dramatic fashion.

Jonatan Berggren, coming out of the penalty box, took a pass from Tyler Motte and scored on the breakaway with 35 seconds left giving the Wings a thrilling 5-4 victory.

Ben Chiarot blocked a shot, got the puck to Motte, who found Berggren speeding down the middle of the ice. Berggren beat goalie Elvis Merzlikins cleanly for the two points for the Wings in the standings.

Columbus tied the game 4-4 at 17 minutes, 19 seconds of the third period on James van Riemsdyk's second goal of the game. The Wings challenged the goal for goaltender interference, but lost, giving the Jackets a resulting power play.

But the Wings killed the power play and scored, Berggren scoring his sixth goal.

Dylan Larkin's third-period, power-play goal broke a tie and gave the Wings a 4-3 lead.

Larkin hadn't scored in 15 games but now has goals in two consecutive games and 14 for the season, as he converted Alex DeBrincat's pass to Larkin in the slot at 4 minutes, 54 seconds of the third period.

The victory was the third in four games under McLellan and moved the Wings to 16-18-4 for the season, with a difficult test Saturday on the road at NHL-leading Winnipeg.

The Wings roared to a 3-1 lead after one period but saw the Jackets score a pair of second period goals to even the game.

Patrick Kane, Erik Gustafsson and DeBrincat (power play) scored the Wings' first-period goals, while goaltender Cam Talbot stopped 21 shots to earn the victory.

Zach Werenski and Sean Monahan had Columbus' goals.

McLellan was eager to see how the Wings would react on their first road-trip with the new coaching staff. The Wings' first three games under McLellan were all at Little Caesars Arena. Going to Columbus, a good home team, and Winnipeg, with the best record in the NHL, was going to be a stiff test.

"We've had to figure everything out at home and now we'll do it on the road," said McLellan after the morning skate. "I don't know how the team will get out of the gate. I'm not sure what their preparation routine has been, I don't know how they react to a full skate or optional skate. I'm not sure what their practice habits will be on the road. Everything is different on the road and we'll find out on this trip, against two real good teams.

"I don't think we can get a tougher trip right off the bat to figure out the group. When we get back on Sunday morning we'll get a road map again for road hockey and how we prepare. I don't want to say experimental for the coaching staff, we're in the middle of a season and pushing for wins, but in some sense it has an element of that."

The Jackets have been one of the surprising teams in the NHL, with much of their young talent, high first-round draft picks, beginning to flourish. McLellan, who was considered a leading contender for the coaching vacancy in Columbus last summer, isn't surprised by the success.

"Dean (coach Dean Evason) has his fingerprints all over this team and anytime a coach comes in and flips the identity and can get the players believing into what he is selling, it becomes contagious," McLellan said. "I see that throughout their lineup, their home record, and the amount of offense they are getting from their back end is big.

"But the confidence some of the offensive players have up front, in my mind, they've definitely turned the corner."

After a van Riemsdyk power-play deflection gave Columbus a 1-0 lead, Kane opened the Wings' scoring with his eighth goal. Kane put back a puck that goalie Elvis Merzlikins couldn't control popped free to Kane at 6:55.

After the Wings failed on a power play, Gustafsson scored his first goal as a Wing with a shot from the point that eluded Merzlikins at 14:39.

DeBrincat concluded the first period barrage with his 16th goal, on the power play. DeBrincat had all sorts of room on the flank to get into position and snapped a shot past Merzlikins at 17:09.

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