Howard, Wings Fall in Loss to Blues

The Detroit Red Wings lost another game to a Western Conference foe Monday night when they faced off against the St. Louis Blues at the Joe Louis Arena.

The game’s first goal came at 11:13 into the first period with a backhand shot from Blues winger Magnus Paajarvi. Red Wing Gustav Nyquist then cleaned up the trash in front of the Blues’ net with 27 seconds left in the first to tie the game at one apiece.

Along with center Henrik Zetterberg and winger Justin Abdelkader, Nyquist is starting to build a comfortable chemistry with his new linemates.

“We’ve built some chemistry over the games we’ve played and I’m starting to learn more about how to play with him,” Nyquist said.

“When he’s got the puck try not to be in the way too much. Just get open and he’ll find you.”

With positive vibes from both sides and a tied up game, the second period looked bright for both sides. That was until starting goaltender Jimmy Howard let up two quick goals to start the period and eventually left the game due to a knee injury later in the second.

“As the game went on in the second period it just got stiffer and stiffer,” Howard said. “Hoping short term.”

The diagnosis is knee fluid, which leaves Howard as day-to-day on the injury list.

“It is frustrating,” Howard said.

“You’re moving in the right direction, you feel you’re doing all the right things, and we were doing all the right things. It’s just bad luck, I guess.”

As have most of his teammates, Howard has struggled with injuries this season. During the month of December, he struggled with a sprained MCL that left him out of action until just before the Winter Classic.

“There’s fluid back on the knee. Just hopefully it gets out of there fast,” Howard said.

Petr Mrazek came in and stopped 13 of 14 shots, while allowing only one goal which came early into the third period from Jay Bouwmeester.

The Red Wings went on to lose the game with a score of 4-1.

“We know that these games will be tough battles, tough opponents and it will be a challenge for us but for sure we need, and we want, to get a couple of wins before the Olympic break,” Henrik Zetterberg, said.

The Red Wings will face off against their old Western Conference rivals, the Chicago Blackhawks, when Chicago makes their first and only trip to Joe Louis Arena this season on Wednesday, January 22 at 8:00 8 p.m.

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Information from the Detroit Red Wings was used in this report.

For more information on the Detroit Red Wings and NHL hockey from analysts and journalists at Michigan State University – tune into Octopi Hockeytown podcasts and embrace the Spartan debate at www.impact89fm.org/sports


Austin Goodman is a multimedia journalist for Impact Sports.


Scoring Summary:

1st Period:

STL – 11:13 – M. Paajarvi (Backhand) C. Stewart, R. Polak

DET – 19:33 PPG – G. Nyquist (Wrist) H. Zetterberg, R. Sheahan

2nd Period:

STL – 1:01 – B. Jackman (Slap) A. Steen

STL – 2:21 PPG – K. Shattenkirk (Wrist) A. Steen, D. Roy

3rd Period:

STL – 2:14 – J. Bouwmeester (Snap) A. Pietrangelo, R. Reaves


Three Stars:

First: Alexander Steen

(2A, +1, 7 shots, 2PIM, 17:44 TOI)

Second: Kevin Shattenkirk

(1G, +1, 4 shots, 2 hits, 19:26 TOI)

Third: Jay Bouwmeester

(1G, +1, 2 shots, 22:00 TOI)