Red Wings come back, beat Blues in shootout

The St. Louis Blues have done a lot to show that they’re not just the flavor of the month, but topping their big brothers from Detroit is a mountain they still need to climb. After winning the first two games of the season series, St. Louis lost four straight games against the Red Wings, including tonight’s 3-2 shootout thriller on NBC Sports Network.

A questionable Ryan Reaves hit seemed primed to be one of the biggest talking points of the game until the Red Wings’ ensuing major power-play advantage ended up blowing up in their faces. David Perron scored a shorthanded beauty to make it 1-0 and then a Detroit penalty allowed gave Andy McDonald the chance to score a 4-on-4 goal to give St. Louis a 2-0 lead midway through the final frame.

Normally that would be an ample lead for stingy St. Louis, but this is mean big brother Detroit we’re talking about. Some dazzling work from Pavel Datsyuk (redundant, I know) opened the door for two Johan Franzen goals and the Red Wings eventually benefited from Todd Bertuzzi‘s 10th shootout goal to prevail in a useful win for the old standbys.

Those two goals were extra-shocking because Elliott’s shutout streak was ended at 241 minutes and 33 minutes, which in true Elliott fashion sort of slipped under the radar.

Check out highlights from the game below:

The impact for both teams

The Central Division is still firmly in the Blues’ control, but this loss damages their chance to take the Presidents’ Trophy and No. 1 seed in the West. St. Louis sits two points behind Vancouver for the West’s top seed with the tiebreaker advantage and two games left apiece. The Rangers also have a two-point lead with two games remaining but have more regulation/OT wins than the Blues.

In other words, it seems like the Red Wings spoiled the Blues’ chances of winning something they’re usually in the running for: the Presidents’ Trophy. Instead, Detroit is wrestling for at least one round of home ice advantage. They took a one-point lead over the Nashville Predators for fourth place in the West with both teams also having two games left, but things should remain interesting as Nashville holds the tiebreaker.

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Long story short, it wasn’t an enormous loss for St. Louis while Detroit squeezed out two points that could be huge considering its overall road woes.

Perhaps the Red Wings also planted the seed of doubt if the two teams happen to meet in the playoffs.