BLUES The St. Louis Blues (15-16-4) are looking to earn a spot on the nice list – and in the win column – when they visit the Motor City to face the Detroit Red Wings on Monday.
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.”
The Blues will finish the road trip on Monday in Detroit before going into the League-wide holiday break. The team will resume play at home on Friday when they take on the Nashville Predators for the first time this season.
RED WINGS The Detroit Red Wings (13-16-4) are coming off a back-to-back home-and-home set against the Montreal Canadiens this weekend, suffering defeats both nights.
The set wrapped up in Montreal on Saturday as the Red Wings fell 5-1. Detroit’s Joe Veleno found the back of the net first for an early lead in the opening period. However, the Canadiens fought back, scoring five unanswered goals in the first two periods for the win.
The Red Wings lost some big contributors on both offense and defense this offseason. Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere signed with the Carolina Hurricanes in free agency. Last season in Detroit, Gostisbehere was fourth on the team in points with 56 (10 goals, 46 assists). Additionally, forward David Perron went to the Ottawa Senators. The former Blue had 47 points (17 goals, 30 assists) for Detroit last season.
However the Red Wings also gained some talent during the offseason, including long-time Blue Vladimir Tarasenko. In Tarasenko’s 783 NHL games, he owns 641 points (297 goals, 344 assists). Additionally, Detroit signed goaltender Cam Talbot. Overall the 37-year-old has a 251-183-44 record and a .914 save percentage in his career.
The Red Wings are in an eight-year playoff drought, with their last appearance coming in 2016. Prior to the 2016-17 season, the Red Wings made the postseason for 25 straight years, including four Stanley Cup titles in that time frame. The Red Wings currently rank seventh in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference.
