Detroit Red Wings score first, chase away Columbus Blue Jackets, 5-4, at LCA

Scoring first helped; so did minimizing the time spent chasing.

The Detroit Red Wings bid farewell to Little Caesars Arena for the next 11 days with a 5-4 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.

The Wings scored first for a change, and Robby Fabbri added to Lucas Raymond's marker before the five-minute mark of the first period.

But five minutes into the second period the Wings were chasing, after Sean Kuraly maneuvered the puck around Jeff Petry at Detroit's blue line and put the Blue Jackets up by a goal.

Alex DeBrincat leveled that when he emerged from a drought, and Daniel Sprong ensured the Wings took a lead into the third period.

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Justin Holl fired a shot from the Columbus blue line that ricocheted off the boards to the front of the net, where Fabbri ended up getting credit for the goal. Patrik Laine made it a one-goal game with 8:30 to play.

The Wings (8-5-2) had a scheduled red-eye flight Saturday night to Stockholm, Sweden, where they play Thursday and Friday. Their next game at LCA is Thanksgiving eve.

Finally, a lead

When Raymond scored 3:41 after the puck dropped, it marked the first time in eight games that the Wings scored the first goal, dating back to the Oct. 24 contest against Seattle. It was a pretty goal, too: Raymond made to carry the puck behind the net only to pull up and tuck it at the goalpost, pulling a sneaky move on Spencer Martin.

The Wings turned that momentum into a 2-0 lead inside a minute, when Fabbri finished the hard work put in down low by Christian Fischer.

Tied after 20

The Blue Jackets struck a minute after Fabbri's goal. Daniel Sprong wasn't able to control the puck on a drive to the net, and Damon Severson picked up the puck and sprang fourth-liner Alexandre Texier. He was able to take off on a breakaway, splitting Wings defenders Justin Holl and Shayne Gostisbehere, skating up ice and scoring on a wrist shot. Columbus scored again with 1:46 to play when ex-Wolverine Adam Fantilli knocked in a bouncing puck.

Building another lead

DeBrincat broke a seven-game drought when he scored off a pass from Jeff Petry, tying the game at 3-all late in the second period. It was DeBrincat's 10th goal of the season, first since he scored nine goals the first seven games of the season. Sprong followed up with his fourth goal of the season, scoring with 1:41 left in the second period, giving the Wings two goals in less than two minutes.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings score first, chase away Blue Jackets, 5-4, at LCA