The Blues ran their winning streak to three games with a 6-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, but the team may have suffered a big loss when forward Jaden Schwartz left the game in the first period after taking a puck to his right foot.
The Blues termed it a lower-body injury. Coach Mike Yeo said after the game that initial X-rays were negative but that he was still sore and would be examined again when the team returns to St. Louis. Earlier in the game, Schwartz scored a goal, giving him 14 on the season, which briefly tied him for the team lead with Brayden Schenn, who later in the game scored to raise his total to 15.
Vladimir Sobotka, Scottie Upshall, Jay Bouwmeeter and Dmitrij Jaskin also scored for the Blues, who got scoring from up and down the lineup. The Blues joined Tampa Bay as the only teams in the NHL with 20 wins this season and face Buffalo on Sunday at Scottrade Center.
"I think if you look at the way we created offense, it's what we needed," Yeo said. "The workers, Uppie, Brodzie, Jaski led the charge on how we need to play and were rewarded for it. They earned it through their work ethic and playing the right way."
Schwartz appeared to take a puck off the inside of his right foot late in the first period and, after trying to crawl off the ice, was helped to the dressing room with no weight being put on his right foot.
Jake Allen stopped 28 of 29 shots and had a goal-less streak of 120 minutes, 8 seconds end in the third period when the Red Wings' Frans Nielsen scored at the 7:18 mark. The Blues had just 22 shots on goal in the game, and had four goals on 10 shots in the first two periods.
"There was a point in the second," Yeo said, "where it felt like things were starting to shift and he held the fort. He gave us a chance to extend the lead. He was outstanding."
Even though the Blues didn't create much offense in the second period, they scored three times. Sobotka scored his sixth goal of the season, finding the top corner of the net from the top of the left circle 4:07 into the period.
The Blues scored again just over two minutes later on a takeaway by Upshall that turned into a breakaway and ended up being his fifth goal of the season and second goal in three games.
Finally, Bouwmeester joined the defenseman scoring club with his first of the season, putting in a shot from the top of the circle that looked like it hit another stick on the way in. It was Bouwmeester's first goal since Nov. 5, 2016. Every other Blues defenseman has scored this season.
"We knew we would need (Allen) to be really good," Yeo said. "I thought we were opportunistic. There are areas to improve on. We did not have enough sustained pressure."
Jaskin scored on a nice move in the third period, giving him four goals for the season, matching his NHL single-season high, and 11 points this season, matching his total for all of last season. Schenn scored in the final minute to round out the scoring.
