Detroit Red Wings clipped at home vs. St. Louis Blues
By Ash Thompson
The Detroit Red Wings were coming off a 5-1 Victory over the Winnipeg Jets. They were unable to carry that momentum over and lost 6-1 to the St. Louis Blues.
The Detroit Red Wings faced off against the St. Louis Blues at Little Ceasars Arena last night. The Wings were coming off a bit of an up and down week with a 10-1 loss in Montreal and a 5-1 win at home against Winnipeg. Jimmy Howard got the start in goal. Howard had an impressive night in Winnipeg, where he stopped 25 shots on the way to a victory. Jake Allen got the start in goal for the Blues.
The Blues opened up the scoring at 8:10 in the first period with some beautiful tic tac toe passing inside the Red Wings’ blue line. Jaden Schwartz finished off the play by going hard to the net. His initial shot bounced off two Wings defenders before finding its way back to Schwartz who was screaming in from the slot.
He did not miss a second time.
Schwartz buried the puck into a wide-open net. Howard was in perfect position to make the initial save, but Justin Adbicater went down to block the shot two feet in front of his goalie. The result was a red light for the visiting team.
The Wings were not without chances in the second period Frans Nielsen hit Dylan Larkin inside the Blues zone with a flip pass from inside his own zone for a breakaway. Allen got his blocker out and turned Larkin’s shot harmlessly aside into the corner. with six to go in the second period Luke Glendenning knocked the puck away from Vince Dunn behind the net to a waiting Darren Helm. Helm fed Nielsen in the slot for a grade A scoring opportunity, wide open from between the circles. but Allen once again shut the Wings down.
The score was 4-0 after the Blues eighth shot with 3:35 to go in the second period, and Petr Mrazek came out to start the third period in goal, but it did not help. Nielsen tallied the Wings only goal on the night at 7:18 in the third. Jonathan Ericsson let a howitzer go from the point, and Glendenning slapped the rebound back on goal. In a rare moment of puck luck Nielsen found himself with a wide-open net and free of Blues defenders. He buried the puck behind Allen. The Wings broke the shutout but it was too little too late.
The Blues added two more goals in the third period. Dylan Larkin led the Red Wings forwards with 21:11 minutes played, and Mike Green led the defensemen with 23:08. When the better of your two goalies comes away with a .800 save percentage, that’s not going to be a night that makes anyone happy.
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The Red Wings won 50% of the face-offs, and they outshot the Blues 29-22. The Wings kept hemorrhaging great scoring chances, and the St Louis Blues are not a forgiving opponent. The Wings are 11-13-5 on the season, and currently eight points out of a wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference.