In Detroit Wednesday night, the visiting St Louis Blues got off to a slow start and it cost them the game in the end.
The first period featured four shots on goal from the Blues and that opened the door in the middle period for the Red Wings to open up a 3-0 lead.
The Blues found their game just long enough to rally for three goals to tie it early in the third period but Tyler Bertuzzi scored the second of his two goals on the night just past the midway point of the period to give the Wings a 4-3 lead and win.
“This is a huge win for us because we gave up that lead and were still able to win,” Bertuzzi said. “We’ve been good in the third period all year, and we went out there and did it again tonight.”
Jimmy Howard made 33 saves to get the win as the Red Wings improved to 11-11-3.
“I love Tyler as a player because he goes to the net and he finds ways to get his stick on the puck,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “We want our players to hound in the offensive zone and hound on the forecheck, and that’s what he does.”
David Perron scored twice and Vladimir Tarasenko had a single marker in the rally for the Blues.
“We didn’t play,” St. Louis coach Craig Berube said. “We’re obviously not a confident hockey team right now, and we’re playing like a team that is just waiting to lose.”
Thomas Vanek and Andreas Athanasiou also scored for Detroit who kept the Blues’ offense off the to the sides but but were unable to connect themselves in the opening period of play.
“We really did a lot of good things in the first half of the game,” Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. “We were getting out of our zone quick and we were spending time in their zone. That’s how we need to play.”
St Louis dropped to 8-12-3 with the loss.
“Once we tied it, I thought we were going to keep rolling and win the game,” Perron said. “Obviously, that didn’t happen.”
[WATCH: All Blues vs. Red Wings highlights]
Jake Allen made 27 saves in taking the loss.
“We didn’t flip the switch until it was too late,” Allen said. “Once we got going, we controlled the game, but you can’t take 30 minutes off and expect to win games in this league.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.