Red Wings Drop Shootout to Blues

Former Red Wings goaltender Manny Legace stopped 41 shots – plus two more shootout chances – Friday night, leading the St. Louis Blues to a 3-2 win over Detroit.

Legace, making his first start in Detroit since leaving the Red Wings, was aided by 22 blocked shots by his new teammates.

Martin Rucinsky and Doug Weight each scored on Red Wings’ goaltender Dominik Hasek during the tiebreaker, while Legace stopped Jason Williams and Pavel Datsyuk rang a shot off the post.

The Blues carried a 2-1 lead into the third period but the Red Wings turned up the pressure, outshooting St. Louis, 17-3.

One of those shots found its way through, when Nicklas Lidstrom scored on a power play with 8:17 remaining in regulation. After a flurry of Detroit chances, Pavel Datsyuk picked up a rebound to Legace’s left. Lidstrom pinched in from the point and got the puck on a crossing pass, lifting it over Legace.

Dispite their chances, the Red Wings never led the game.

After a scoreless first period, Petr Cajanek snuck a wrist shot past Hasek at 1:24 of the second.

Just 2:39 later, Jason Williams threw a shot on net from the right circle that Henrik Zetterberg redirected in at the back door.

Only 3:11 after that, Cajanek scored again on another wrist shot, this one deflecting off the inside of the post and into the net.

Both teams had chances to win before the shootout, with St. Louis going on a power play with 1:34 left in regulation and Detroit getting a chance with the extra attacker for the final 1:51 of overtime.

Legace saved the game for the Blues, with his 41 saves on 43 shots. Hasek faced only 19 shots, making 17 saves.

St. Louis was held scoreless with the man-advantage, going 0-for-2, while the Red Wings scored on one of their four tries.

The loss is Detroit’s fourth consecutive and the third one in a row to go to at least overtime. The Red Wings will try to snap their skid on Saturday when they visit the Central Division-leading Nashville Predators.