The 2025 Stadium Series game was played between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Detroit Red Wings on March 1st, 2025. Two teams looking to take the next steps in their development to Stanley Cup contenders. Each of these teams is at similar stages of their construction. Both eras began with two Michigan born players.
Teammates on the USNTDP and the Michigan Wolverines before turning pro, Dylan Larkin and Zach Werenski have both become leaders of their respective NHL teams and the foundational pieces their teams have been built upon.
The Blue Jackets have youngsters Kirill Marchenko (24), Yegor Chinakov (23), Dmitry Voronkov (23), Kent Johnson (21), Cole Sillinger (21), rookie defenseman, Denton Mateychuk (20), and Adam Fantilli (19).
The Red Wings have Jonatan Berggren (24), Elmer Soderblom (23), Moritz Seider (23), rookie defenseman, Albert Johansson (23), Lucas Raymond (22), Simon Edvinsson (21), and rookie forward, Marco Kasper (20).
I think the big difference between the two teams is that Detroit has Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat. The Blue Jackets veteran scoring after Werenski falls on Sean Monahan and James Van Riemsdyk. The Blue Jackets are winning in toughness. If I made a list of toughest guys in the league today, the name at the top of that list would be Mathieu Olivier. He plays for the Blue Jackets. The teams have equal goaltending.
Both teams are decked out in their amazing Stadium Series Uniforms. These uniforms are super nice. They’re two of my favorite uniforms I’ve seen for the outdoor games. I wish I could buy that exact uniform all in one package that I could wear to my local rink.
The gloves, the helmet, and the pant covers too. I wouldn’t wear traditional Red Wings uniforms on the ice, but I can make an exception for these limited time alternate uniforms. Those are as cool as can be.
The game took place at Ohio Stadium. The Red Wings wore their road white colors; the Blue Jackets wore Navy Blue.
Lucas Raymond had a nice move and shot on net. Raymond picked up a rebound in the right offensive face-off circle, but lots of traffic in front forced the play to the sidewall and around into the high slot where he was 1-on-1 with AHL forward Mikael Pyythia. Raymond deked him out so easily.
He was able to drag the puck from behind himself and through his own legs to the backhand with enough time and space to get the puck to his forehand and a good shot in towards Merzlikins. It would have been a beauty of a goal, but Merzlikins made the save with little to take his eyes away.
I’m surprised by the pace of this game. Sometimes in the outdoor games the ice isn’t in optimal condition and the pace of play slows down as a result, but it looks like the ice is in great condition and we might see some pretty good plays in this game.
Zack Werenski flipped one out from his own zone to just inside the Red Wings blue line. The high flip one-hopped over the stick of Chiarot and the first player on it was Adam Fantilli. Fantilli stopped with his rear end out to protect the puck and found Marchenko streaking into the zone.
Marchenko was a bit too fast to make the deke towards the net work and it looked like he was working his way around the back of the net when he no-look backhanded the puck short side. Lucky it hit Talbots stick and laid at the edge of the crease because there was not a Red Wings player close enough to prevent the opportunity.
Voronkov did get a shot away, but it was in pretty tight to Talbot for many great angles at the net. Talbot made the save and there was a scrum outside of the crease.
An errant Blue Jackets pass in he Red Wings zone was picked up for free by Compher and the breakout was built right in as the pass went ahead to Kane. A slow developing play. This kind of easy breakout rarely happens. The pass was a little late and a little off target. Still, it worked great. Kane is a master when the play slows like this.
Kane deked to the middle and got the two Columbus defenders to cross each other, causing yet another slow down. With the Columbus players all crossed up, he found an open and streaking Elmer Soderblom coming onto the ice on a change for Debrincat.
Soderblom blew the puck wide. It’s hard to say how far wide it was from the camera angle, but he has to get his head up and take the extra few milliseconds to find the net. Especially in this case. His extra reach afforded him those extra few milliseconds since the backcheckers stick was out of reach.
There was some risk of taking a check from the front, but again his size, in this case, affords him the chance to go for it up against a smaller defenseman. It was a good chance.
The Blue Jackets were having some success sending high flips bouncing through center ice. This one bounced near the feet of Seider. It made picking up the puck take an extra step. Seider corralled the puck, but didn’t have an option.
Marchenko stripped the puck on the forecheck and got it ahead to Fantilli. Again, the speed was just a little too high and he got in too tight to Talbot for many great angles. He sent the puck high and wide with space running out.
Very nice play by Kent Johnson. The Red Wings attempted a rim play to break out of the zone and Johnson picked it up with his back along the boards at the hash marks. He went directly to the net with literally no coverage, but no screen and a bad angle. Talbot had the whole net covered.
There was probably a softball sized hole over Talbot’s right shoulder. Many players would have tried to thread the needle, but the resulting miss would have been 200ft back into his own zone. Instead, he passed on a decent opportunity so that they might get a better one. The result is a puck that worked it’s way to the point, was flung on net, and blocked.
Johnson himself picked up the rebound in the high slot and ripped a turn around shot off the goal post. Excellent play by Johnson. He was third in Blue Jackets scoring with 57 points in 68 games played at age 21.
The play was more or less even. The Blue Jackets probably had an extra high danger chance in the first period. The game remained tied at 0.
Blue Jackets Goal 0-1 – It was kind of a broken play, but the kind of broken play they know has a chance to work since they play together so much. Three pucks got sent towards the net. One wide from the point that was picked up by Van Riemsdyk behind the net. Van Riemsdyk sent a no-look backhand through the slot with players crashing the net, and the puck nearly bounced in off a skate.
Boone Jenner had good body position to pick up the loose puck in the corner and he, again, sent a no-look backhander through the slot. That time it slid all the way through to Denton Mateychuk at the point.
Mateychuk stepped into the puck with some speed into open space and let a good wrist shot go between the legs of the Edvinsson block and over the glove of Talbot.
Simon Edvinsson could have stepped up on Mateychuk to cut the angle or get a stick in the lane. A poke check is risky business because the puck has a tendency to ramp up into the face from this position. A block is better for safety reasons. He was on the right track but needed to move closer to the shooter. A little bit too much puck watching for the Wings and he was late to make the move.
A Fantilli shot near the crease was stopped by Talbot and Gustavsson swatted the puck out of the netfront. The puck bounced off the sideboards and to the top of the circle where Dante Fabbro took a slap shot high and hard. Way off target and hit Ben Chiarot in the face. Lucky he didn’t put full power on it, and it hit helmet, so Chiarot was okay to continue.
The puck bounced to DeBrincat and he chipped it out to center ice. Still recovering from the shot attempt, Fabbro interfered with DeBrincat and drew the first penalty of the game. On the delayed penalty Kane picked up the puck and went in on a 2-on-1 with Compher.
The pass and shot was executed pretty good, but Merzlikins read it easily and got across to make the save. The Red Wings went on the powerplay.
Red Wings Goal 1-1 – 48 seconds into the power play Seider sent the puck to Kane near the right dot. Kane briefly surveyed and found DeBrincat exactly where he wanted him.
Kane zipped a crisp pass away from the goaltenders pad, through the stick of Provorov, and right on the tape of DeBrincat for the back door goal. Option number 1. The Red Wings potent power play struck on their first opportunity. Alex DeBrincat extended his point streak to 9 games.
Marchenko gained the Red Wings zone and found a streaking Fantilli with the pass. Fantilli got a shot from the top of the circle on the rush attempt and rang it off the right post.
Marchenko's forecheck is annoying to Seider. Seider was using his body to protect the puck and explode up ice when Marchenko reached and swiped his stick from behind Seider, poking the puck away. Marchenko picked up the puck behind the net.
Seider swiped back to try and regain possession, but caught the skate of Marchenko and got called for a tripping penalty. It is very rare to see a turnover like this from Seider. Maybe it was the outdoor environment or this particular opponent in Marchenko or a combination of both. In any case, it’s a 2 minute minor and the Red Wings go on the penalty kill.
Blue Jackets Goal 1-2 – Just 8 seconds into the penalty kill a similar play to the Kane goal. Werenski down to Johnson at the dot. Johnson connected with Voronkov in front of the net. Voronkov chipped the puck over the blocker. Power play goal.
Blue Jackets Goal 1-3 – Another attempt to rim the puck up the boards to a winger was picked off. Normally these plays filter through to the winger waiting on the wall, but the Blue Jackets have made a couple of good positional plays to prevent it. This time Mathieu Olivier sealed the boards with his back near the goal line.
The play continued behind the net. A bounce here and a bounce there. It’s unclear which side of the net the puck was going to go around. It ended up on the stick of Olivier who made a charge to the post and shovels in a backhander that ramped off Justin Holl’s stick and over the pad and glove of Talbot.
Holl had Olivier tied up momentarily but as soon as he let him loose the puck was on his stick. It was, again, a bit of a flukey play, but the situation can be avoided entirely with better puck management by the Red Wings.
The shots are 25-13 in favor of the Red Wings after 2 periods, but it sure seems like the Blue Jackets have the momentum and the better scoring opportunities. Larkin had a good shift at the end of the period to try and strike back before the period ended, but time ran out and the Red Wings went into the locker room down 1-3.
The 3rd period started with a couple of good shifts for the Red Wings. Starting with the Larkin line establishing control in the offensive zone line then the Kane-Debrincat combo with a few shots on net.
The Red Wings were continuing the pressure with the Veleno-Soderblom-Tarasenko line. Soderblom picked up the puck and headed up ice when he was hit by a dirty check by Justin Danforth. Danforth hit Soderblom from the blind side. There was no chance for Soderblom to see him coming and protect himself.
As an aggressor making a check, it’s Danforth’s responsibly to identify a dangerous hit and realize that he can’t hit a player in a vulnerable position when there is a high chance of injury. Soderblom took Danforth’s helmet to the cheek area. He went down for a minute or so and the play was whistled down.
It doesn’t look like there was any damage to Soderblom and he was able to get off the ice under his own power. There was no penalty called on the play. This is no different than a hit from the blind side along the boards. There was a player in a vulnerable position, the player delivering the check was from behind into the numbers from the blind side, and contact was made with the head.
This is clearly a penalty. If it had happened along the boards it would have been called a penalty. It should be a penalty in open ice as well.
Marchenko was carrying the puck through center and Ben Chiarot stepped up on him. Solid body contact. Shoulder to shoulder.
Red Wings Goal 2-3 – The Red Wings were in control of this 3rd period to this point. They had the Blue Jackets on their heels as the pressure continued in the offensive zone. Edvinsson held the line on the clearing attempt and the cycle was on. This shift was all about Edvinsson and Johansson pressuring from the blue line. The Kane-Compher-DeBrincat line was the forward unit. They did a good job giving the D-pair an outlet when they needed it.
These two defenseman are not afraid to get involved in the cycle and don’t hesitate to keep up the pressure on the puck, even in the offensive zone. They do great as a two man unit. Playing off of each other and blanketing the other team with their quickness and tenacity in the trenches. With help from the forwards, they were able to maintain control of the puck in the O-zone, resulting in an open Patrick Kane at the top of the left circle.
The Blue jackets players were a bit on their heels and there was a nice screen by Compher in front of Merzlikins. Kane sniped one through traffic and past the glove hand for the goal. Kane’s second point of the game.
The pressure continued for The Red Wings. Really controlling the play in the offensive zone and got another couple of high danger tries. This time it was Veleno who found a streaking Gustavsson with a right to left cross ice pass, then the dish to the slot for a one-time shot by Tarasenko. Merzlikins bursted way out above his crease to make the save. The rebound went right onto the stick of Berggren who went 5-hole. Merzlikins had the ice sealed with his left pad for the save.
Kirill Marchenko had been a forechecking machine in this game. Breaking up Red Wings attempts to get puck control in their own zone. This time he was against Albert Johansson. The puck was flipped out into Red Wings territory. Johansson and Marchenko were racing for the loose puck. Johansson got good body position on Marchenko. Marchenko slashed down on Johanssons stick and jarred the puck back. He tried flipping his stick quickly from the front of his body to the back and in doing so raked his stick over Johanssons face for a 2 minute minor high sticking penalty. The Red Wings offense had dominated the first 5 minutes of the third period and their potent powerplay will get their second chance of the game.
The pace had slowed down a little bit. Columbus has had some push back into the Wings zone, but the play had been largely controlled by The Red Wings. The Red Wings had gotten a few shots through from the point off the sticks of Justin Holl and Moritz Seider. Compher deflected a nice one on goal. Merzlikins made the saves but had not been controlling the rebounds very well. The Wings had not been able to capitalize on those rebounds yet. Although they had 42 shots in this game, they were still looking for the equalizer with 6 minutes remaining in the 3rd period.
Red Wings Goal 3-3 – Offensive zone faceoff in the right faceoff circle. Compher won the draw back to Kane near the top of the circle and Kane passed along the top of the circles to Gustavsson. Gustavsson’s shot hit Alex DeBrincat, who got bumped into the high slot by Mateychuk. The puck settled near his stick and he ripped a turn around shot over the glove of Merzlikins for the goal. Hockey is often a game of monkey-see monkey-do and that had been the case in this game. Kent Johnson had a very similar opportunity in the first period that rang off the goal post. Alex Debrincat’s chance went into the top right corner of the net. Tie game late in the third period. Merzlikins looked stunned, he was frozen in his butterfly with his glove hand up like a statue for a beat after the puck went in. It was DeBrincat’s second goal of the game and his 9th goal in his last 9 games.
Blue Jackets Goal 3-4 – Another bouncing puck through center was up for grabs near the Red Wings blue line. Justin Danforth and Simon Edvinsson were both near the puck battling for possession. Danforth went for a stick lift on Edvinsson and missed. His stick raked right across the face of Edvinsson and took him down. Danforth got in alone on Talbot and took a slap shot. Talbot made the save, but Danforth got his own rebound with some speed around Talbot and, with just the outstretched pad of Talbot to beat, lifted the puck over the pad and into the net. The referees conferred near the scorer’s box and I can’t even imagine the rationale used to decide this wasn’t a penalty. Danforth’s stick very clearly high sticked Edvinsson in the face and caused the scoring opportunity.
The Red Wings pulled their goal for the extra attacker.
Blue Jackets Goal 5-3 – Werenski dumped the puck into the Red Wings zone off the goal post, got his own rebound in the corner, and passed to Adam Fantilli in the crease for an easy tap in goal.
The shots at the end of this game were 46-21 in favor of the Red Wings. The Wings did find a way to crack Merzlikins to tie the game at 3. The refs did not do The Red Wings any favors in this game. There were two controversial calls in this game and they both went against the Red Wings. One of which resulted in the game winning goal with just over two minutes remaining in the game.
It felt a little bit unfair. It goes that way sometimes. The Blue Jackets seemed to have an edge in the first two periods, despite the shot disparity. The Wings dominated the third period except for the scoring play which was a missed high sticking call against Columbus.
Kirill Marchenko was great on the forecheck in this game and that high flip out of the zone with a winger crashing the spot was working well for the Blue Jackets. The goals scored by the Blue Jackets were not exactly highlight reel opportunities.
They’re the kind of plays that can score with volume, but then they only got 21 shots on net. So I would call it luck, except I don’t believe luck plays a big role in hockey games. I hate blaming the refs, but no call on the blind-side hit to Soderblom, and the missed high-sticking penalty on Edvinsson late in the third could have swung the game in The Red Wings favor.
Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane were The Red Wings best players in this game. The two of them had been scoring at a remarkable pace at this point of the season. DeBrincat scored his 9th goal in as many games and Kane had 1 goal and 2 assists; factoring in on all three Detroit goals. As I write this review on May 26th, Kane is still unsigned.
I hope he and The Red Wings can come to an agreement before July 1st. Kane is very close to some scoring milestones that could make him the highest scoring American born player ever. It would be nice to see it unfold as a member of the Red Wings.
© 2025 Minute Media – All Rights Reserved. The content on this site is for entertainment and educational purposes only. Betting and gambling content is intended for individuals 21+ and is based on individual commentators' opinions and not that of Minute Media or its affiliates and related brands. All picks and predictions are suggestions only and not a guarantee of success or profit. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER.
