Blues Erase Two-Goal Third-Period Deficit, Stun Detroit 5-4

St. Louis scored three goals in a span of 4:38 in the third period to overcome a 4-2 deficit and beat Detroit 5-4. The Blues trailed by two as late as 3:29 of the third, then rattled off three unanswered — the last coming just 18 seconds after they tied it.

St. Louis drew first blood just 2:29 into the game when Dalibor Dvorsky converted a backhand, assisted by Justin Barron and Dylan Holloway, to put the Blues up 1-0. Detroit answered at 8:13 of the first on a J.T. Compher snap shot, and the Red Wings never looked back through the middle frame. Keegan Kolesar tipped one home 41 seconds into the second to flip the lead, Lucas Raymond then went unassisted at 13:14 for his fifth of the year to push it to 3-1, and Detroit looked firmly in control. Jimmy Snuggerud kept St. Louis breathing with a tip-in at 19:32 of the second — assisted by Robert Thomas and Philip Broberg — cutting the deficit to 3-2 heading into the third.

Then Detroit poured salt in the wound. Emmitt Finnie, set up by Raymond and Moritz Seider, wired a wrist shot past Joel Hofer at 3:29 of the third to make it 4-2, and the game appeared to be over. It wasn't. Pavel Buchnevich snapped one home at 8:37, assisted by Jake Neighbours, to make it 4-3. Justin Barron — who had opened the scoring with an assist in the first — then buried a snap shot at 12:57, with Snuggerud picking up the helper, to tie it at four. Eighteen seconds later, at 13:15, Aleksanteri Kaskimaki tipped in the winner off feeds from Alexey Toropchenko and Pius Suter. Three goals in 4:38. Game over.

The story of the night was St. Louis's refusal to fold when Detroit had every reason to feel comfortable. Snuggerud and Barron each finished with a goal and an assist, and Buchnevich's snap shot in the third looks like the spark that cracked Detroit's composure. On the goaltending side, Joel Hofer made 24 saves on 28 shots — respectable work in a high-event game. John Gibson, on the other hand, faced only 15 shots and allowed five, which appears to be the kind of performance that will draw scrutiny regardless of the team's collapse in front of him. Lucas Raymond was Detroit's best player with a goal and an assist, but it wasn't nearly enough once the Blues found their footing in the final ten minutes.