Red Wings snap three-game skid with 6-4 win against Blues

St. Louis — The Red Wings are missing some key offensive players Tuesday but you wouldn't have noticed it.

Even without Dylan Larkin and J.T. Compher, both out with injuries, and David Perron (suspension), the Wings never missed a beat offensively, rallying for three third-period goals in a 6-4 victory over the Blues.

The victory ended a three-game winless streak for the Wings (15-9-4), who return Thursday to play Carolina at Little Caesars Arena.

"Huge, ecstatic," said coach Derek Lalonde, describing the victory. "We're going through a tough time with our roster. Every team goes through it, and we're going through it now. We have to battle and get whatever we can out of it, and for us to play on a road, back-to-back, trailing in the third period, especially with the way their fourth goal went in, it's a huge win for us.

"I liked how we played down the stretch, too. It's a real big win for us."

Robby Fabbri and Lucas Raymond scored early third period goals to give the Wings the lead for good, and goaltender Ville Husso stopped 33 shots in his return to St. Louis (13-14-1).

Michael Rasmussen's empty net goal at 18 minutes, 21 seconds gave the Wings a two-goal, 6-4 lead.

"It feels nice on a back-to-back to be able to have a comeback like that," Raymond said. "It shows a lot about our team and especially with the guys we have out right now. We trust each other and trust what we're doing. A lot of guys stepped up and that's what we need."

Fabbri, another former Blue, broke the 4-4 tie with his ninth goal at 6:38. Raymond slipped the puck into the slot, where Fabbri got his stick on it and beat goaltender Jordan Binnington.

BOX SCORE: Red Wings 6, Blues 4

"Resilience in this room is something we pride ourselves on," Fabbri said. "We use it to our advantage in a win like this. It's a big win for this group."

Raymond got the Wings back even with his 10th goal, a power-play goal, just 48 seconds into the third period.

Joe Veleno got the puck near the goal line and saw Raymond unattended near the hashmarks. Raymond whipped a one-timer past Binnington, tying the game 4-4, and easing some of the Wings' disappointment of allowing a shorthanded goal to end the second period.

The Blues broke a 3-3 tie on defenseman Marco Scandella's shorthanded breakaway goal at 16:53 of the second period.

Shayne Gostisbehere's stick shattered near the top of the slot on a shot attempt, the puck sliding to Scandella near the top of the circle. Scandella poked the puck up the ice, gathered it with Wings behind him, and went forehand-backhand to beat Husso for Scandella's first goal of the season.

It was a deflating goal, not the least because the Wings had tied the game 3-3 on Moritz Seider's goal at 9:47, getting the Wings back in the game.

Missing key cogs on offense, Red Wings concentrating on improving defense

"It's tough, a stick breaks, but again it shows a lot about our group to be able to come back in the third," Fabbri said. "To be able to get that one back, it felt good."

Kevin Hayes scored two goals 31 seconds apart early in the second period, giving the Blues a 3-2 lead.

Hayes tied it 2-2 on a deflection at 1:40.

Husso opened the period with a fine save on Brandon Saad driving to the net. But Husso couldn't stop Hayes, who got his stick on a shot from former Wing Nick Leddy from the point, Husso never getting a good look on the shot.

Hayes then broke the tie with his eighth goal, just 31 seconds later. Seider couldn't clear the puck on an attempt, the puck going straight to Hayes. Hayes skated into the slot and snapped a shot past Husso.

But the Wings didn't let down.

"There's a couple of moments in there we handled well," Lalonde said. "The two goals, to lose our lead and then come back and then obviously to start the (third) period after giving up that late goal the way we did, it was a good sign.

"We're asking a lot of guys to do, probably too much, but it's going to go a long way for them and they've done a good job."

The Wings took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. Walman and Jonatan Berggren scored goals 1:58 apart, erasing an early Blues lead.

Walman opened the Wings' scoring with his sixth goal. Just after Hayes missed on a clear one-timer from the low circle, the Wings pushed the puck up the ice. Walman skated to a loose puck and snapped a shot high over Binnington at 13:33, tying the game 1-1.

Berggren pushed the lead to 2-1 with his second goal in two games since being recalled from Grand Rapids, after a slew of injuries and David Perron's suspension cut into the Wings' lineup.

Binnington made the save on Jeff Petry's shot, but the rebound went wide too Berggren near the crease. For the second consecutive night, Berggren was there to put back a rebound, being opportunistic and in the right spot of the ice.

"Depth is why we're standing where we're at and we're really in need of depth with what our lineup is going through," Lalonde said. "Berggren did a good job for us."

tkulfan@detroitnews.com

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