Detroit Red Wings 6, Columbus Blue Jackets 2 FINAL

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - As good as they are, the Detroit Red Wings don't seem to think they're quite good enough.

Brendan Shanahan and Pavel Datsyuk each scored two goals to help the Detroit Red Wings beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-2 on Monday night for their sixth straight victory.

``We were ready to play,'' Datsyuk said. ``We have to keep it going. We need to get better and better.''

The NHL-leading Red Wings are 9-1-0 overall and 5-0-0 on the road.

Mathieu Schneider and Henrik Zetterberg each added a goal and an assist, Jason Williams and Niklas Lidstrom had two assists apiece, and Datsyuk added an assist to go with his goals in support of Manny Legace, who had 31 saves.

Legace, who has been in goal every game for the Red Wings, tied the NHL record and set a club mark for wins by a goaltender in October.

``I thought Manny did a good job and our guys did a real great job on the kill,'' said Detroit coach Mike Babcock, whose team killed seven of eight penalties. ``Our specialty teams did a phenomenal job.''

Bryan Berard and Trevor Letowski scored for Columbus. Marc Denis stopped 31 of the 37 shots he faced.

The Red Wings outscored the Blue Jackets 12-2 in two meetings at Nationwide Arena in just over 48 hours. They won 6-0 Saturday night behind Jason Williams' first three-goal game.

``We had a lot of good scoring chances in the first half,'' Columbus coach Gerard Gallant said. ``Then they went up 5-2 and it's pretty hard to come back against that team. I was looking for a great finish to the hockey game, but we got into trouble and they capitalized.''

Down 1-0 early after Berard scored on a power play, the Red Wings tied it on a quirky goal. Chris Chelios tossed a pass to Shanahan just wide of the goal, and Shanahan chipped it at Denis from almost behind the cage. The puck caught some of the near post, then ricocheted off Denis' back and bounced over the goal line.

``I was just trying to get a piece of the goalie and let it squeeze in,'' Shanahan said. ``That's just kind of a hope play. You're lucky if it goes in.''

Datsyuk, who has goals in his last three games, then cracked the game open by scoring twice in the second period. The first came when he tapped a rebound out of the air after Denis stopped his first shot. Ninety seconds later, Datsyuk added his seventh goal of the season when he scored off a rebound of Jiri Fischer's slap shot.

After Letowski cut it to 3-2, the Blue Jackets' Steven Goertzen was assessed a 5-minute boarding penalty for ramming Detroit defenseman Andreas Lilja into the boards, leading to two power-play goals by the Red Wings.

Shanahan ripped a slap shot from just inside the blue line near the right boards for his sixth goal of the season to make it 4-2, then the Red Wings made the most of a 5-on-3 advantage when Schneider's hard shot from the top of the right circle eluded Denis.

The Blue Jackets were serenaded by boos as they left the ice after two periods.

``We're just a little snakebit right now and until that changes we have to just keep plugging away,'' Columbus defenseman and captain Luke Richardson said.

Zetterberg carried the puck from the red line for his fifth goal to close the scoring.

Asked why the Red Wings have been on such a run, Shanahan smiled and said, ``Skating hard. If you skate real hard, drive to the net, draw penalties and our penalty-killing's been good.''

Notes: Legace tied the NHL mark of nine wins by a goaltender in October set by Vancouver's Kirk McLean in 1991-92 (9-2-1) and also matched by Toronto's Felix Potvin (9-1-0) and Philadelphia's Dominic Roussel (9-1-0), both in 1993-94. ... Shanahan and Schneider extended their points streaks to four games. ... The Blue Jackets had not scored in 76:35 before Berard picked up his third goal on a slap shot from the point in the opening period. ... The Blue Jackets have lost five of six.