Red Wings 5, Blues 3
Pavel Datsyuk and Justin Abdelkader scored 80 seconds apart late in the third period as the Detroit Red Wings avoided a complete collapse and recorded a 5-3 road victory over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.
Defenseman Niklas Kronwall notched a goal and two assists, Darren Helm and blue-liner Ruslan Salei also scored and Jimmy Howard made 26 saves for the Red Wings, who snapped a three-game road losing streak with their second win in as many days.
St. Louis rallied from a 3-1 deficit early in the third to knot the contest before Datsyuk squeezed between a pair of defenders in the right faceoff circle and moved to the slot before beating Jaroslav Halak with 6:47 remaining. Abdelkader created some breathing room at 14:33, firing the puck past Halak from the high slot for just his second goal in 53 games.
Rookie Adam Cracknell gave St. Louis a 1-0 lead at 9:17 of the first period, beating Howard from the bottom of the left circle for his first career goal. But Salei and Helm scored 16 seconds apart shortly thereafter and Kronwall made it 3-1 late in the second with a power-play tally.
All-Star David Backes beat Howard from the left circle at 3:48 of the third for his 25th goal of the season and Matt D'Agostini, who also had an assist, forged a 3-3 tie just 2 1/2 minutes later with his 15th tally.
Halak stopped 22 shots for the Blues, who had their three-game winning streak halted.