Preview: Red Wings visit Blues, trying to build success on the road

ST. LOUIS --Achieving success on the road is crucial for an NHL team.
That's the objective for the Detroit Red Wings as the club begins a tough two-game road trip. Detroit's first stop is the Enterprise Center, where the St. Louis Blues will host the Red Wings for a Thursday night clash.

"I think momentum is critical. So certainly, you want to keep that momentum," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said on Wednesday. "I was disappointed in the game last night because we had a chance to keep that momentum at home. I was really disappointed in that. Every game, really in the end, is of equal importance. That's the reality of it. Certainly, momentum matters, and I also think we haven't had tons of success on the road, and we get to go play two really good opponents."
On Tuesday night, the Nashville Predators finished with 33 shots on goal and scored twice in the first period to frustrate the Red Wings, who saw their five-game winning streak snapped.

"I think we've been a better defensive team since the last time we played St. Louis, but we also probably haven't seen the firepower that St. Louis has, if they are at full strength," Blashill said. "I don't know how many players will be missing. The firepower that St. Louis and Colorado can throw at you is going to test us again defensively.
"How good are we in the D-zone? How good are we in the track? How good are we at protecting middle ice? As I have talked about lots, you have to be good in those areas to win on the road, otherwise you are just giving momentum away."
Detroit and St. Louis both enter Thursday's game with 13 victories this season. St. Louis is 13-8-4 overall and coming off a strong win against the 17-win Florida Panthers (4-3 Tuesday night). Detroit's record is 13-10-3, fresh off a 3-1-0 homestand.
The last time Detroit and St. Louis met, goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic made 34 saves to help Detroit snap a four-game losing streak and claim a 4-2 victory at Little Caesars Arena on Thanksgiving Eve.
Like the Red Wings, the Blues have been excellent on their home ice with an overall record of 8-3-1, and they're on a five-game home winning streak. On the road, Detroit is 4-7-1 this season.
On Wednesday, Blashill made it clear why Detroit has struggled on the road.
"I think there are two reasons why our home record is better than our road record and one of which we can't control, and that's our home crowd has been excellent as I've talked about lots," Blashill said. "Two, I don't think we've played winning hockey enough on the road. I think we've given the opponent momentum through poor puck decisions, through poor puck play and through, at times, not good enough defensively."

This season, St. Louis ranks first in the Western Conference with six assists per game, led by Robert Thomas, who is averaging 0.8 assists per game. Thomas is second on the team with 22 points on two goals and 20 assists. Jordan Kyrou leads St. Louis with 25 points on nine goals and 16 assists. The trio of Vladimir Tarasenko, Pavel Buchnevich and David Perron have combined for 25 goals.
Detroit will also look to shut down Ivan Barbashev, who has three assists in his last two games and seven points in his last six games.
As of late, Blues coach Craig Berube has had to make adjustments between the pipes. With goalie Jordan Binnington out until next week due to COVID-19 protocol and after Ville Husso was injured against the Panthers, Charlie Lindgren is the probable starter for the Blues on Thursday. The 27-year-old saw his first NHL action in almost two calendar years on Tuesday and made three saves in 6:25 of relief duty.
St. Louis made a series of roster moves on Wednesday, and signed goaltender Jon Gillies to a one-year, two-way contract. Gillies is projected as the backup against Detroit. Under emergency conditions, the Blues also recalled forward Nathan Walker.
Thursday's game is the final regular season matchup between Detroit and St. Louis this season, and the 288th regular season matchup all-time.

Red Wings recall Lashoff, place Lindstrom on injured reserve

On Thursday, the Red Wings recalled defenseman Brian Lashoff from the Grand Rapids Griffins. Additionally, Detroit placed defenseman Gustav Lindstrom on injured reserve retroactive to Dec. 4.
Lashoff, 31, is in his 13th season with the Griffins in 2021-22 and has logged three points (2-1-3), a plus-seven rating and 10 penalty minutes in 16 games.