Schedule and 2008-09 Results
Regular Season Records: Detroit 51-21-10=112pts, Columbus 41-31-10=92pts
Game 1 on Thursday, 16 April: Columbus loses at Detroit, 4-goals-1
Game 2 on Saturday, 18 April: Columbus loses at Detroit, 4-goals-nil
Game 3 on Tuesday, 21 April: Detroit wins at Columbus, 4-goals-1
Game 4 on Thursday, 23 April: Detroit wins at Columbus, 6-goals-5

SERIES NOTES:

Post-series assessment: On the strength of a late power-play goal, the Detroit Red Wings swept the newcomer Columbus Blue Jackets 4-games-nil to win MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series 1061. With the series 1061 win, the Detroit Red Wings improve their best-of-7 NHL playoff series record to 50-37 overall and 14-7 in the NHL Preliminary round. With the series 1061 loss, the Columbus Blue Jackets see their best-of-7 NHL playoff series record fall to 0-1 overall and 0-1 in the NHL Preliminary round. The four-game best-of-7 NHL playoff series sweep in series 1061 is the 13th achieved by the Detroit Red Wings, and the first suffered by the Columbus Blue Jackets. Series 1061 among MLB/NBA/NHL best-of-7 playoff series thus becomes the 24th NHL Preliminary-round series, the 102nd NHL series (all rounds), and the 178th MLB/NBA/NHL series (all rounds) to end in a four-game sweep. Not for a single second did the Columbus Blue Jackets hold an in-game lead during series 1061: Series 1061 thus becomes the sixteenth best-of-7 NHL playoff series to end in not just a four-game sweep but what WhoWins™ terms an "annihilation" - a four-game best-of-7 series loss in which the defeated team never for a single second held a lead. The annihilation is the first in the NHL since 2000, when Detroit administered one onto the Los Angeles Kings in series 805. Ironically, the Detroit Red Wings have now been involved in each of the last four (and five of the last six) NHL annihilations.