Perhaps it seemed fitting that the Detroit Red Wings played to a football score on a fall Saturday. Unfortunately, the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Detroit Wings 10-7 in their second game at the Traverse City Prospects Tournament.
It was a match that had the appearance of a preseason prospect exhibition. There were a lot of penalties, both teams had a lot of space to move about in, and there was a clear difference between the best players in the game and some of the undrafted invitees.
The outcomes of these prospect tournament games are generally unimportant, but given that Detroit has now lost its first two games, there will be extra pressure on Sunday afternoon when the Wings prospects face Toronto in the tournament’s championship game.I pondered Detroit’s chances against Columbus’ newly selected talisman, Adam Fantilli, the third overall pick in the 2023 Draft, before the competition began.
Fantilli was overwhelming on a Saturday afternoon. His three goals and two assists for the Blue Jackets showcased his speed, hands, physicality, and finishing touch.
Before the puck dropped, Carter Mazur’s absence from the game was announced due to a lower body injury he sustained during Detroit’s first game of the showcase against Dallas. Thankfully, Mazur’s damage sounds mild, and his absence seems preventative.
Detroit had a strong first period on the ice. Riley Sawchuk started things off with a precise shot off a partial breakaway, pressuring a Columbus defenseman at the point to spring himself to create the opportunity.
Amadeus Lombardi found Alexandre Doucet in the slot to make it 3-0 after a Jackson DeSouza centering pass made it 2-0 for Detroit after deflecting off a Blue Jacket stick.
Fantilli, who received the puck in mid ice, danced through the slot, and then beat Sebastian Cossa with a powerful backhand, provided a preview of the Columbus onslaught to come, though, before the opening period’s siren sounded.
Before the Blue Jackets broke out with seven straight goals, 2020 second-round pick Cross Hanas made it 4-1 early in the second period on a power play goal (again with assistance from a fortunate deflection in the slot). Three of those seven came on the power play, and the fourth from a delayed penalty with an additional attacker. In the last seconds of the first, Hanas stopped the bleeding by burying a loose puck during a scrum in front of the net, leaving the score at 5-8 after two periods.
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