The Detroit Red Wings looked like they might rout their opponent, scoring three times within half a dozen minutes.
Then came penalty problems, and their cushy lead over the St. Louis Blues dwindled to one goal. Then it was gone.
It took a two-goal performance from Mr. bobblehead of the night, Tyler Bertuzzi, to salvage Wednesday’s affair at Little Caesars Arena with a 4-3 victory.
The Wings dressed seven defensemen, which turned into a prescient move as Trevor Daley did not return after the first period because of a lower-body injury.
The first half of the game went well, as Thomas Vanek, Andreas Athanasiou and Bertuzzi each scored, and the Wings consistently got into their offensive zone. The second half was dicier.
Good first
Two nights after a slow start against the Columbus Blue Jackets forced the Wings to have to play catch-up from a 3-0 deficit, the Wings looked much sharper against the Blues. Mike Green tested Jake Allen early with a slap shot from the blue line. Dylan Larkin tried a backhand attempt. Athanasiou was so active in the offensive zone he drew a holding penalty on Jay Bouwmeester at 10:18, at which point the Wings already had nine shots on goal. The first unit, run by Frans Nielsen, had some good looks but couldn’t execute around the net, while Larkin’s unit didn’t have much going. Niklas Kronwall dinged a puck off the crossbar in the waning minute of the first period, which ended with the Wings having a 15-4 edge in shots.
Surge & sag
The Wings grabbed a 1-0 lead at 4:24 of the second period. Green fired the puck on net, and Gustav Nyquist won the battle for the rebound (after a quick poke by Jacob de la Rose) and sent the puck out front, where Vanek redirected it for his first goal since returning from a knee injury Oct. 21. Vanek picked up an assist at 7:17 of the second period when he sent the puck to Green, who centered a shot that Athanasiou turned into his 11th goal of the season. Green eared a two-point night four minutes later when he had a hand in Bertuzzi making it 3-0 when he popped in Luke Glendening’s rebound.
Two straight penalties cost the Wings dearly. David Perron scored at 13:36 when his shot went in off the far post (while Bertuzzi served a high-sticking penalty) and Vladimiar Tarasenko at 16:15 while Green was in the box.
Third on the line
Blues forward Braden Schenn fired a shot from the bottom of the right circle that threatened to go in, but wound up spinning off a goalpost. That was part of stretch that saw the Blues look dangerous in Detroit’s zone as the third period warmed up. The Wings failed to push back as the Blues won puck battles, and that enabled Perron to pounce on a loose puck to make it 3-3 at 8:04.
Bertuzzi earned his second goal of the night as he battled by the right goalpost, where he knocked in a pass from Michael Rasmussen.
The Wings caught a break when the Blues had too many men on the ice, leading to a penalty at 15:28, but Vanek was called for tripping 30 seconds into the power play. The Blues pulled Jake Allen with 1:51 to play in regulation for the extra attacker.
