After the morning skate, Sr. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock thought defenseman Carl Gunnarsson would be able to return from an upper-body injury. Defenseman Colton Parayko was ill and didn't skate in the morning and was scratched. But Hitchcock found out Gunnarsson wouldn't be able to play about two and a half hours before the game.
"We had to change our defensive structure," Hitchcock said. "We've done it three times in the past couple of weeks. The guys have been able to adjust."
Elliott has won five of six starts in place of injured Jake Allen (knee).
"Everything he saw he stopped," Backes said. "He kept us in the game and we were able to reward him with a couple of goals and get him the win."
Ty Rattie and Dmitrij Jaskin scored for St. Louis (28-15-7). Alex Pietrangelo had two assists.
Henrik Zetterberg scored for Detroit (23-15-8), which has 20 goals in its past 11 games and 16 in its past eight. Petr Mrazek made 18 saves.
"I said after last game we needed more net presence and we needed to hit the net more," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "I thought after this game that our net presence was pretty good, especially in the second. Maybe not in the first. I thought we needed to hit the net more. I'll be honest with you. We need to keep playing the way we played tonight."
Zetterberg made it 2-1 with 2:13 left in the third period on a power-play goal with Mrazek pulled for a 6-on-4 advantage. Zetterberg scored from the right circle through a screen for his eighth goal.
"I think it was we couldn't score. I thought we had chances," Zetterberg said. "I think we started right off the hop and had some real good chances the first couple shifts. I thought the first 10 minutes we created a lot. They got a little bit back in the game, but overall I thought we created enough chances to score more than one goal."
Hitchcock challenged the goal, saying Elliott was interfered with, but it was upheld.
Rattie gave St. Louis a 1-0 lead with 1:59 left in the first period. Pietrangelo's shot from the right point deflected off Rattie's leg for his third goal.
"I'll take 'em any way they come. I didn't see this one. Off my shin pad," Rattie said.
Jaskin made it 2-0 with 7:47 left in the third period. He took a pass from Backes in the neutral zone, carried the puck down the middle of the ice, split Detroit defensemen Mike Green and Jonathan Ericsson and made a forehand-to-backhand move to beat Mrazek for his third goal.
"Just trying to get the puck settled down," Jaskin said. "And when I got over [the blue line], I just drove to the net."
Red Wings left wing Tomas Tatar was a late scratch because he was ill. He was replaced by Joakim Andersson.
