In Detroit, the Red Wings scored four times in the opening stanza on Saturday afternoon in a 6-1 thumping of the St Louis Blues.
“We’re in a stretch where we are playing some really good hockey, and we need to take advantage of it,” Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said. “If we want to get over that (playoff) line at the end of the season, we’re going to need every last point we can get.”
Alex DeBrincat hit for a double in the win.
Alex Lyon made 22 saves in the win.
Detroit improved to 31-20-6 off their fourth straight win.
Patrick staked the Red Wings to a 1-0 lead with 33 seconds into the first game.
Michael Rasmussen pushed the lead to 2-0 at 4:21, coring off an odd man rush.
Robby Fabbri was credited with a goal at 5:24 after a deflection for a 3-0 advantage..
“It’s not that we didn’t come out ready,” the Blues’ Brayden Schenn said. “We just weren’t very smart in the first five minutes.”
DeBrincat potted his first of the afternoon at off a power play strike with 58 seconds left in the frame, for a 4-0 lead headed to the middle frame. .
“We knew we hadn’t been getting the starts we needed,” DeBrincat said. “That was a point of emphasis tonight, and we came out with three quick goals. After that, we just wanted to keep it going.”
The Blues dropped to 30-25-2.
“I think we had 22 or 24 turnovers in the first period — that’s normally how many we have in a game,” Blues interim coach Drew Bannister said. “‘Binner’ was under siege out there — this had nothing to do with him. He didn’t have a chance.”
Zachary Bolduc was the lone striker for the Blues, heis second period goal at 12:28 made the score 4-1.
“I’m pretty lucky — I didn’t have to wait long for my first one,” Bolduc said. “It felt good, but this was an important game and a tough loss.”
J.T. Compher scored at 16:56 to push the lead to 5-1 for the Red Wings.
DeBrincat collected his double at 18:34 of the middle frame off an odd man rush for the 6-1 final count on the scoreboard. converting on a 3-on-1.
“We’ve had a couple of games where we had big leads and given them up so it’s good to stay focused in this game and hold them to one,” DeBrincat said.
Jordan Binnington got the start and yielded four goals, making 11 saves before getting the hook in the first intermission
Joel Hofer made 18 saves in relief.
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