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Blues-Red Wings Preview
St. Louis Blues at Detroit Red Wings
- The Blues dropped a 4-1 decision to the Kings on Monday and have now lost five straight games overall (0-4-1 record). St. Louis is allowing an average of 5.0 goals per game in February -- highest of any team in the league.
- Jonathan Ericsson scored with less than five seconds remaining in regulation, and the Red Wings beat the Kings, 3-2, on Sunday -- their third straight win overall. Detroit is 6-0-0 when scoring three or more goals this season (1-4-1 when scoring two goals or fewer).
- This is the fourth meeting of the year between the Blues and Wings -- Detroit has won the last two games vs. St. Louis after dropping the season-opener to the Blues, 6-0. The Red Wings have defeated the Blues four straight times at Joe Louis Arena by a combined score of 14-6.
- Kevin Shattenkirk had a helper vs. the Kings on Monday and now has four points (all assists) during his current 3-game scoring streak. Shattenkirk is tied with Tobias Enstrom of the Jets for the league-lead among blueliners with 13 points in 2012-13.
- Henrik Zetterberg had two assists Sunday, giving him six points (all assists) during his current 4-game scoring streak. Including a career-high tying five-point game on February 1, Zetterberg has 65 points (25g, 40a) in 56 career games vs. St. Louis.
- St. Louis has scored at least one goal with the man-advantage in six straight games (9-for-25 during streak) and leads the league with a 34.8 power-play percentage overall this season.
(AP) -- Plenty has changed since the St. Louis Blues dominated the Detroit Red Wings in the teams' season opener.
The Red Wings have taken two meetings since that poor effort and won a season-high three straight overall as they try to hand the visiting Blues a sixth consecutive defeat Wednesday night.
St. Louis (6-5-1) was spectacular in a 6-0 home victory over Detroit on Jan. 19, but the Blues have lost twice to the Red Wings (7-4-1) during their 0-4-1 slide. They'll be trying to avoid dropping six in a row for the first time since a 0-5-2 skid Dec. 26, 2009-Jan. 7, 2010.
"It's an easy time to beat everybody up," St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We're not playing with the sense of urgency collectively throughout our lineup necessary to win in the National Hockey League."
Detroit has won four straight home matchups with St. Louis, the most recent a 5-3 victory Feb. 1. Henrik Zetterberg matched a career high with five points in that contest, and he's among the league leaders with 13 assists and 18 points.
The Red Wings also won 5-1 at St. Louis last Thursday, as Petr Mrazek made 26 saves in his NHL debut with Jimmy Howard getting a night off.
That started this win streak for Detroit, which has taken the first two of a four-game homestand with one-goal victories over Edmonton on Saturday and Los Angeles on Sunday.
Pavel Datsyuk scored in both contests after going three games without a point.
"When I watch Pavel Datsyuk play, all I think about is how much will he has and how determined he is," coach Mike Babcock told the Red Wings' official website. "He just keeps coming. He doesn't care who it is or who he's playing. The best of the best are ultra-competitive and they bring it every single day."
While the Red Wings are playing well at home, the Blues completed an 0-3-1 homestand with a 4-1 defeat to the Kings on Monday.
Jaroslav Halak was scheduled to make his first start since leaving the Feb. 1 outing against Detroit with a groin strain. Halak, though, re-aggravated the injury and struggling Brian Elliott made 19 saves on 23 shots.
Now the Blues hope to regroup on a three-game trip.
"This is the homestand from hell," Hitchcock said. "We lost our goalie, we didn't play as well and now we've got to take this onto the road and we've got to be much more accountable to each other."
Elliott has gone 0-3-0 with a 3.03 goals-against average in three career starts at Detroit, while Halak is 1-3-0 with a 4.48 GAA in his five there.
Howard has posted a 1.86 GAA in winning seven straight home starts versus St. Louis.
The Blues have converted on a league-leading 34.8 percent of their power plays, including 7 for 13 against the Red WIngs. Their woes occur at even strength.
"All our scoring chances against good teams come on the power play," Hitchcock said. "They don't come 5-on-5. Well, you have to really dig in 5-on-5 against good hockey clubs to create scoring opportunities. And we don't get those."
Updated February 12, 2013
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