Bertuzzi scores twice, Red Wings recover for win against Blues

DETROIT -- Tyler Bertuzzi scored two goals, and the Detroit Red Wings ended a three-game losing streak with a 4-3 win against the St. Louis Blues at Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday.

The Red Wings took a 3-0 lead in the second period, but the Blues tied the game before Bertuzzi scored his second of the night with 6:53 remaining in the third to make it 4-3.
"This is a huge win for us because we gave up that lead and were still able to win," Bertuzzi said. "We've been good in the third period all year, and we went out there and did it again tonight."
WATCH: [All Blues vs. Red Wings highlights]
Thomas Vanek and Andreas Athanasiou also scored for Detroit (11-11-3), and Jimmy Howard made 33 saves.
David Perron scored two goals for the Blues (8-12-3), who lost for the fifth time in six games. Jake Allen made 27 saves.
"We didn't play," St. Louis coach Craig Berube said. "We're obviously not a confident hockey team right now, and we're playing like a team that is just waiting to lose."

Vanek made it 1-0 at 4:22 of the second, taking Gustav Nyquist's pass and putting a wrist shot over Allen's shoulder.
Athanasiou gave the Red Wings a 2-0 lead at 7:17 when he scored off a pass from Mike Green.
Detroit, which outshot St. Louis 24-6 in the opening 31:04 of the game, took a 3-0 lead at 11:04 of the second when Bertuzzi batted in the rebound of a Luke Glendening shot.
"We really did a lot of good things in the first half of the game," Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. "We were getting out of our zone quick and we were spending time in their zone. That's how we need to play."
Bertuzzi scored the game-winning goal after Michael Rasmussen's shot hit Blues defenseman Jordan Schmaltz just outside the crease and came to him to the left of the net.
"I love Tyler as a player because he goes to the net and he finds ways to get his stick on the puck," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "We want our players to hound in the offensive zone and hound on the forecheck, and that's what he does."

The Blues outshot the Red Wings 15-1 in the final 7:40 of the second, scoring twice on the power play in 1:39.
"We didn't flip the switch until it was too late," Allen said. "Once we got going, we controlled the game, but you can't take 30 minutes off and expect to win games in this league."
Perron split Glendening and Danny DeKeyser before beating Howard at 13:37 to cut the margin to 3-1, and Vladimir Tarasenko made it 3-2 at 15:16.
"That's not a spot where I would normally attack, but the power play was almost over and I saw a little bit of space," Perron said. "I was just trying to make something happen."
Perron tied the game 3-3 with his second goal of the game at 8:04 of the third period, beating Howard off a pass from Robby Fabbri.
"Once we tied it, I thought we were going to keep rolling and win the game," Perron said. "Obviously, that didn't happen."

Red Wings defenseman Trevor Daley left the game at 9:55 of the first period with a lower-body injury. Detroit had seven defensemen in the lineup, so Jonathan Ericsson ended up playing 15:57 in his first game since Nov. 1.
"I thought [Ericsson] did a good job," Blashill said. "It was probably good for him that we got down to six defensemen so that he could get into a regular rotation."

They said it

"This is a good hockey team with a lot of problems between the ears. For half of the game, we didn't even shoot the hockey puck. We just crossed their blue line, gave it away, and let them come at us with all that speed." -- Blues coach Craig Berube

"After last season, we knew this organization needed more of our younger guys to step up, and that's really been the case this season. All of those guys are playing well and bringing it every night, and that's huge for this team." -- Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall

Need to know

The Blues had a 72-47 edge in shot attempts but missed the net 21 times compared to five for the Red Wings. ... St. Louis has allowed 24 goals in its past six games. ... Bertuzzi had his second two-goal game in the NHL on Tyler Bertuzzi Bobblehead Night. ... Vanek had a goal and an assist for his first multipoint game of the season.

What's next

Blues:At the Colorado Avalanche on Friday (9 p.m. ET; ALT2, FS-MW, NHL.TV)
Red Wings: At the Boston Bruins on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NESN, FS-D+, NHL.TV)