The Blues were unable to close the door on the Red Wings despite building a three-goal lead on the road. The first 1 ½ periods belonged to St. Louis as they scored all three goals on nine shots, held an 8-3 advantage in hits, and received ten saves from its patchwork goalie. Yes, that was all in the first 1 ½ periods.
The other half of the game was dominated by Detroit. St. Louis had a hard time staying out of the penalty box committing 10 minor penalties, including five straight late in the second period. Four of those penalties were killed off, but the Blues weren’t ever able to establish any rhythm.
With the first two goalies on the Blues roster out with injuries, third-stringer Jason Bacashishua stopped 39 shots but it was the 40th attempt that spelled doom for the Blues. Pavel Datsyuk’s goal with 3:23 into overtime gave the Red Wings a 4-3 win in overtime and an improbable comeback.
Nicklas Lidstrom had a goal and an assist, and Jason Williams and Dan Cleary also scored for Detroit. Robert Lang and Mathieu Schneider each added two assists.
Petr Cajanek scored twice and Dallas Drake scored a goal for the Blues. St. Louis has dropped six straight.
