The little kid that was always picked on by the bully in school and finally gathered the courage to stand up to him — just to be sorry about the repercussions that followed — you’re in the same boat as the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Blue Jackets faced the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings Monday night, when some retaliatory hits ended up costing the Blue Jackets in a 3-2 loss.

“You don’t like retaliation, and it cost us,” Blue Jackets’ interim coach Doug MacLean said. “But when you get a blow to the head, sometimes it’s hard not to retaliate.”

Columbus defenseman Jaroslav Spacek was hit in the head during the third period, which resulted in a retaliatory hit that put him in the penalty box for boarding. Detroit, which has the NHL’s best power play unit, capitalized on the penalty for the decisive third goal.

“They scored a timely powerplay goal,” said Columbus goalie Marc Denis. “Any time you want to trade chances like we did in the second period, you’re not going to win the hockey game.”

The Blue Jackets hung in with the Red Wings for most of the game — the same old story of Columbus’ season against Detroit this year. In the team’s previous meeting at Nationwide Arena, the Red Wings won 1-0, scoring with less than five minutes left in the game. The two meetings in “Hockeytown” were also losses for the Blue Jackets, but they rallied from deficits coming just short in the end.

The Red Wings are now 6-1 all-time at Nationwide Arena.

The game started off quickly when Red Wings’ left wing Brendan Shanahan scored three minutes into the opening period. Detroit had a man advantage when center Pavel Datsyuk threaded a pass through five players to Shanahan, who tapped the puck in the net one second after the power play ended.

A shooting frenzy and five power plays allowed Columbus to respond to Detroit’s goal. The Blue Jackets kept control of the puck much of the first period.

The Blue Jackets scored on its first power-play opportunity when left wing Geoff Sanderson passed to wide-open left wing Ray Whitney. He scored the one-timer goal from 10 feet away for his fifth goal in three games. Whitney would later add an assist, tallying six points since Columbus started its home stand on Thursday.

Detroit right wing Brett Hull has been on a scoring rampage of his own. He added his fifth goal in four games in the second period, giving Hull nine points in those games.

Columbus again had an answer to the Red Wings, tying the game going into the second intermission. This time, defenseman Rostislav Klesla scored his first goal of the season when his pass deflected off Detroit center Boyd Devereaux and leaked past Detroit goaltender Manny Legace.

“I tried to pass it up to Mike Sillinger and it went off a skate,” Klesla said.

The Blue Jackets had eight power plays on the night, giving them 14 minutes of man-advantage hockey.

With the loss, Columbus remains the second-worst team in the Western Conference, while the Red Wings are in third place, fighting for a better playoff position.

“They’re a desperate team competing for first place in the league and all of their players play tough,” Klesla said. “They just played harder than us, and that is why they’re champions.”