Red Wings defeat Blues for sixth win in row

ST. LOUIS -- Detroit Red Wings goalie Petr Mrazek finally got the upper hand on Jake Allen when Henrik Zetterberg scored in the eighth round of the shootout for a 2-1 victory against the St. Louis Blues at Scottrade Center on Thursday.
Mrazek and Allen traded clutch saves through overtime, but in the end it was Mrazek's 31-save performance that helped Detroit (6-2-0) to its sixth victory in a row.

Zetterberg, who was 13-for-58 in the shootout in his NHL career, beat Allen through the five-hole for the deciding goal. It was Detroit's fifth straight win in St. Louis, the past three coming either in overtime or a shootout.
The Red Wings, who got a shorthanded goal from Frans Nielsen at 13:54 of the second period to tie it 1-1, had not won six in a row since Jan. 13-27, 2015.
"A huge win on the road for us," Mrazek said. "St. Louis is a very good team. The first period, we didn't play how we wanted to play, but from that second half of the game, the better we were."
Red Wings forward Gustav Nyquist scored in the second round of the shootout after Blues forward Alexander Steen scored on the first shot. The next 11 shots were either saved or missed the net.
St. Louis (4-2-2) has lost two in a row and four of five (1-2-2), scoring one goal in each of the losses.
Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, whose shot beat Mrazek off Nielsen's skate at 2:31 of the second period to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead, has scored the past two Blues goals.

A St. Louis forward hasn't scored a goal against a goalie in 138:10, the last coming when David Perron completed a hat trick at 6:50 of the third period in a 6-4 win against the Calgary Flames on Sunday.
"I think this game is the same as four or five games we've played already," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We played really well, had a lot of good stuff, but don't finish. So I think we've got to look at everything right now. We've got to look at combinations, what's working, what's not working, what we need to get more from. Can't just keep living on scoring chances and work. You've got to finish at the end of the day. I think we've got to look at every aspect right now."
Each team had tremendous chances in overtime, but Allen and Mrazek were up to the challenge. Allen made 26 saves, including 23 after the first period.

The Blues were dominating the game, holding a 20-7 lead in shots, when Nielsen scored on Detroit's eighth shot to tie it. After he skated past Shattenkirk along the right side, Nielsen's shot hit the left pad of Allen, who had come off the left post, and the puck caromed high into the net.

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Goal of the game

Nielsen took the wind out of the Blues' sails when he scored after he and Darren Helm went at St. Louis 2-on-2 in a shorthanded situation. Once Nielsen got Helm's drop pass with a head of steam, he raced past Shattenkirk with a power move to the net.

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Save of the game

Mrazek bailed out Helm, who had turned over the puck in the Red Wings' zone, when he made a sprawling left-pad save on Nail Yakupov from in close with 9:09 remaining in the first period after a pass from Patrik Berglund.

Highlight of the game

Mrazek made sure Vladimir Tarasenko didn't score his fifth goal with a strong right-blocker save on the doorstep at 9:30 of the first after a pass from Jaden Schwartz.

Unsung moment of the game

Allen gave the Blues a chance when he was able to rob Tomas Tatar with 22 seconds remaining in overtime. Tatar spun around after coming to a stop at the top of the crease on a partial breakaway with St. Louis forward Robby Fabbri hooking him, but Allen got the pad up.

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They said it

"My objective is to stop the puck, that's it. Sometimes you're 3-for-3, sometimes you're 0-for-10. Shootouts, you're not going to win them all, but it's a tough way to go down."-- Blues goalie Jake Allen

"We found a way to grind it out. We had a big shorthanded goal, and it was big for us to get the two points." -- Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill

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Need to know

Red Wings right wing Thomas Vanek was a late scratch with a mid-body injury and is day to day. … Blues defenseman Robert Bortuzzo left with an undisclosed injury early in the third period. ... Red Wings right wing Steve Ott played his 800th NHL game.

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What's next

Red Wings: Home against the Boston Bruins on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; FS-D, NESN, NHL.TV)
Blues: Home against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; FS-MW, FS-W, NHL.TV)