STL-DET 12.9 recap

DETROIT -- Jake Allen made 28 saves and the St. Louis Blues defeated the Detroit Red Wings 6-1 at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday.
St. Louis (20-8-2) won its third in a row after a three-game losing streak. Jaden Schwartz scored before leaving the game in the first period with a lower-body injury.

\[WATCH: All Blues vs. Red Wings highlights\]
He gave the Blues a 1-0 lead at 11:50 of the first period, lunging to knock his rebound past Howard for his 14th goal of the season. He was helped off the ice with 2:51 left in the period after blocking a shot with his ankle.
"The X-rays were negative but he's very sore," St. Louis coach Mike Yeo said. "We'll see how he's feeling when we get home tonight."

Vladimir Sobotka, Scottie Upshall, Jay Bouwmeester, Dmitrij Jaskin and Brayden Schenn scored for the Blues.
"We lost Jaden early, which meant a lot of guys got a chance to play extra shifts," Yeo said. "I was happy to see how many of them stepped up, and a few guys who played hard got rewarded with goals."
Frans Nielsen scored for the Red Wings (11-13-5), who have lost eight of their last nine (1-5-3), with six of the losses at home.
"Obviously no one wants to lose 6-1, but if we keep playing the way we did in the first two periods tonight, we'll win games," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "We got great pressure and created chances, but Jake Allen was great and their shots went in."

Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard allowed four goals on 10 shots in the first two periods and was replaced by Petr Mrazek for the third. Mrazek made 10 saves on 12 shots.
"I've got to find a way to make more saves," Howard said. "The rest of our guys did their jobs, and I have to start doing mine."
St. Louis scored three times on its first four shots in the second period.
Sobotka made it 2-0 at 4:07, scoring his sixth goal with a wrist shot from the left face-off circle. Upshall gave the Blues a 3-0 lead at 6:17, stripping the puck from Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall for a breakaway. He slid the puck between Howard's legs for his fifth goal.
"I had a lot of time to decide what to do there," Upshall said. "I haven't had much luck shooting on breakaways this year so I decided to see if I had a move in my bag."
Bouwmeester scored his first of the season at 16:26, making it 4-0 with a shot that deflected off Red Wings defenseman Mike Green's stick.

"
[Sammy Blais

and Patrik Berglund] were both going hard to the net so I flipped it up there and hoped for a tip," Bouwmeester said. "Luckily for me it went in off their guy."
Nielsen made it 4-1 at 7:18 of the third period, knocking in a rebound.
"We didn't like the score, but we did some really good things tonight," he said. "I'm a big believer that over 82 games you will get the results you deserve."
Jaskin gave the Blues a 5-1 lead at 9:00 of the third, beating Mrazek on a breakaway for his fourth goal. Schenn made it 6-1 at 19:17 with his 15th of the season.

Goal of the game

Upshall's goal at 6:17 of the second period

Save of the game

Allen's save on Dylan Larkin at 11:42 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Sobotka's goal at 4:07 of the second period.

They said it

"This didn't seem like a 6-1 game at all, because we spent a lot of time pinned back in our own end. We were able to keep most of their stuff to the outside, but Jake was just great. He was the one that gave us a chance to stay ahead until we got some goals in the second period." -- Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester
"I am not worried about Jimmy Howard in the least. He's been at the top of his game all year, but every goalie has a night where they hit the corner with every shot and pucks go in off a skate or a stick. He's fine." -- Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill

Need to know

Schenn had a goal and an assist and leads the Blues with 36 points (15 goals, 21 assists). He has one more point than Schwartz (14 goals, 21 assists). … Bouwmeester's goal was his first since Nov. 5, 2016, a span of 77 games. … Howard is 1-4-3 with a 4.64 goals-against average and .836 save percentage in his past nine games.

What's next

Blues: Host the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday (7 p.m. ET; FS-MW, MSG-B, NHL.TV)
Red Wings:Host the Florida Panthers on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET; FS-F, FS-D, NHL.TV)