The 13-16-and-4 Detroit Red Wings face off against the 15-16-and-4 St. Louis Blues tonight at Little Caesars Arena (7 PM EST start on FanDuel Sportsnet Detroit/FanDuel Sportsnet Midwest/97.1 FM).
Detroit will complete their pre-Christmas schedule against a team that’s lost 3 straight games, including a 2-1 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers on Saturday. St. Louis has lost 3 of their past 4 games and 5 of their last 7, so the Blues are facing a similarly desperate situation in terms of needing a quick turnaround to keep their playoff hopes alive.
MLive’s Ansar Khan posted a short preview of tonight’s game…
The Red Wings’ compete level was lacking Saturday in a 5-1 loss at the Bell Centre. Their goaltending hasn’t been as sharp as they’ve allowed 13 goals in the past four games. Cam Talbot likely will start tonight.
It remains to be seen whether top-four defensemen Simon Edvinsson and Ben Chiarot, both dealing with upper-body injuries, will be available. Edvinsson didn’t play the past two games. Chiarot was injured during the second period Saturday.
The power play, ranked in the top 10 most of the season, has struggled of late, going 2 for 25 (eight percent) in the past nine games.
The Blues are 6-4-3 since Jim Montgomery replaced Drew Bannister as coach on Nov. 25. The Bruins fired Montgomery six says prior.
Jordan Kyrou leads St. Louis with 14 goals and 28 points. Defenseman Cam Fowler has one assist in five games since being acquired from Anaheim. Jordan Binnington is 8-13-3 with a 3.00 goals-against average and .896 save percentage.
As did the Blues website’s Gabby Khodadad and Brett Barczewski:
The Blues are 0-1-1 on their three-game road trip thus far and earned their point on Friday when they fell to the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Florida Panthers, 2-1 in overtime.
Oskar Sundqvist scored the Blues’ lone goal on a pass from Alexandre Texier in the first period to open scoring in the game. The Panthers scored the equalizer in the second, and ultimately the game went into extra time. In the final 13 seconds of OT, the Panthers secured the victory with a power-play goal.
Although the Blues fell short of securing two points in Sunrise, they matched the Panthers with 27 shots on goal and held an edge in hits and faceoffs. Following the game, Head Coach Jim Montgomery spoke on his team’s performance.
“It felt like an even game,” Montgomery said. “As we know, it’s the defending Stanley Cup champions. It’s been a dominant team in this league for two-and-a-half years now. It’s hard when you lose, especially when we had puck possession most of the overtime too… But I really liked a lot of the opportunities. We had great opportunities in the slot.”
Joel Hofer had 25 saves and a .926 save percentage on the night. After the loss, Hofer expressed pride in his teams’ ability to challenge their opponents and shared his excitement for the future of the organization.
“We’re trending.” Hofer said. “We’re not getting all the wins right now, but we’re battling and competing against really good teams. Yeah, it sucks now, but I think in the long run it’s going to really benefit us.”
Detroit Hockey Now’s Kevin Allen summarizes both teams’ statuses as follows…
Coach Derek Lalonde’s Detroit team is home to face the St. Louis Blues tonight at Little Caesars Arena (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network). The Red Wings are eight points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Blues, meanwhile, are five points out of a postseason berth in the Western Conference. This is a game the Red Wings need to win: the Blues have lost three in a row and five out of their last six.
And here are tonight’s game notes:
