Maybe it was a good thing Chris Osgood wasn't quite ready to return yet.
Osgood was scheduled to start tonight for the Detroit Red Wings but couldn't go, forcing the Wings to recall goalie Joey MacDonald from AHL-Grand Rapids just hours after sending him down. He didn't disappoint, stopping 37 shots in picking up his second career shutout against Columbus, 2-0.
MacDonald was stellar throughout the night, making Drew Miller's tally 33 seconds into the game stand up as the game-winning goal. Detroit also got a goal from Valtteri Filppula, his second in as many nights.
Miller punched in a rebound past Columbus goalie Steve Mason before most fans even got in their seats to put Detroit on top. Filppula then converted his 15th goal on the power play halfway through the frame, one-timing Johan Franzen's cross-ice feed past Mason.
MacDonald made sure it all was worth while, continually making spectacular saves to keep Columbus off the board. That including killing off a 5-on-3 power play with under ten minutes left after Nicklas Lidstrom and Jonathan Ericsson both took consecutive penalties. Detroit got out shot 37-27 for the game, a rarity for them, but came out on top thanks to their third-string goaltender.
However, all news out of Ohio's capital was not good on Thursday. Detroit lost forward Pavel Datsyuk again to injury after he was hit by Rick Nash in the third period. Not long after, defenseman Brian Rafalski hurt his knee after the Blue Jackets' Antoine Vermette slid into him in the corner of the Red Wings zone. Both players recently returned from injury; Datsyuk missed nearly two months with a broken hand and Rafalski sat out last week with back spasms.
Red Wings head coach Mike Bacock, who picked up his 300th career win with Detroit, said in the postgame interview on Fox Sports Detroit that Rafalski appears to fine and that Datsyuk has a lower body injury. Datsyuk skated off on his own power, making the "lower body" diagnosis a bit of a head scratcher (possibly one of those annoying groin tweaks, but that's purely speculation). Rafalski was down for over a minute, but was able to gingerly skate off on his own.