The Detroit Red Wings and St. Louis Blues will both try to end three-game losing streaks when they meet Tuesday night in St. Louis, 10 days after the Blues rallied for a 5-4 victory in Detroit.
The Red Wings have dropped four of their last five after a 4-0 loss to the host Colorado Avalanche on Saturday, while the Blues haven’t won since the win over the Red Wings, most recently falling 3-1 to the Nashville Predators.
Detroit also remains without former captain Dylan Larkin, who was suspended without pay after refusing to play while awaiting a trade, and defenseman Simon Edvinsson, an unsigned restricted free agent who also wants to be dealt. Edvinsson must sign an NHL contract by Dec. 1 to be eligible to play this season.
Despite the loss Saturday, which began a four-game road trip, the Red Wings dominated the first period with a 13-5 shots advantage.
“If we can replicate the first period over and over again, I think you give yourself a good chance of being in every single game,” defenseman Moritz Seider said. “We know we’re not a super high-scoring team, but if we can defend I think we’re doing a good job.”
The team has only managed 49 goals in 18 games.
Alex DeBrincat and Lucas Raymond are tied for Detroit’s point lead with 16. DeBrincat has seven goals and nine assists while Raymond has recorded six goals and 10 helpers. Viktor Arvidsson is the goal leader with eight.
Second-year forward Emmitt Finnie, primarily a winger as a rookie, has taken over as Detroit’s No. 1 center following Larkin’s departure. He has seven goals and four assists in 18 games and is plus-9.
Red Wings coach Todd McLellan expects Marco Kasper (upper body), injured in the season opener, and Mason Appleton (undisclosed), injured in the team’s second game, to return during the road trip.
St. Louis also had a strong first period in the loss to the Predators on Saturday, leading 1-0 on Jimmy Snuggerud’s power-play goal, but couldn’t sustain it.
“People can say it’s different things that we’re not doing, but it’s always something different,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “We need to be better. We need to be more committed to who we are, and we need to work at a harder rate more consistently.”
Blues defenseman Logan Mailloux could make his season debut Tuesday after being activated from injured reserve Monday. He has not played this season after undergoing surgery on his right hand Sept. 28.
Mailloux had been in the top pair with Philip Broberg before breaking his hand in a fight during the last exhibition game on Sept. 26.
“He was skating powerfully,” Montgomery said of Mailloux. “He was very decisive, very aggressive defensively and offensively, and he was really connected to the puck. He had great gaps, he was holding lines, he was physical, he was closing plays out, and offensively he was jumping in and using his good shot.”
St. Louis is also challenged offensively (50 goals in 17 games) and is led in points by Broberg, who has 13 (four goals and nine assists). Snuggerud is the goal leader with nine.