Barstool BushChronicling the Barstool Universe

St. Louis Blues at Detroit Red Wings

Sat Oct 311:00 PM ETESPN+Detroit, MI
By JR·2 min read
Blues(6-6-1)
Red Wings(6-4-3)
Saturday 10/311:00 PM

TLDR: Dylan Larkin told the Red Wings he's done playing for them, and Detroit's first full game in the aftermath is a Halloween matinee against a St. Louis team that just remembered how to score. Little Caesars Arena gets the Blues on Saturday, October 31, at 1:00 PM ET.

SAT 10/31, 1:00 PMESPN+
Blues
(6-6-1)
WLLWW
Red Wings
(6-4-3)
WWLWL

Detroit hosts St. Louis in its first game since Dylan Larkin was suspended for refusing to play for the club, after a 4-1 win over Chicago without him. The Blues have swung between shutout losses and big scoring nights, and they come in with a blue line missing Torey Krug, Tyler Tucker and Logan Mailloux. Whether Detroit's forward depth holds up without Larkin, and which version of the St. Louis offense shows up, likely decides it.

St. Louis Blues
  • Bounced back from 2 straight shutouts with 4 on Boston
  • Put 6 on Vegas inside the last 2 weeks
  • Detroit missing its top center
  • Shut out twice in a row by Carolina and Montreal
  • Krug, Tucker, Mailloux out; AHL call-up Burns in
  • Starting goalie unannounced; results swing night to night
Detroit Red Wings
  • Scored 3 in the 3rd to beat Chicago without Larkin
  • Home ice after a comfortable regulation win
  • Blues blue line thinned to an AHL call-up
  • Larkin suspended, no longer playing for Detroit
  • Albert Johansson missing on defense
  • Interim GM, trade saga hanging over the room

Start with the Detroit mess, because nothing else about this game comes close. Interim GM Shawn Horcoff suspended Larkin without pay after the 30-year-old's agent called to say Larkin wouldn't be coming to the rink and no longer wanted to be a Red Wing. Larkin asked for a trade in the offseason and lost the captaincy he'd held since January 2021 on September 11. The suspension runs at least to November 14, and he is very likely finished in Detroit. He had 6 points in 10 games. That's not a top-line return, but he's still a top-line center, and he still carries 5 more years at $8.7 million a season.

The odd part is that Detroit has played fine without him. In our recap of the 4-1 win over Chicago, the Red Wings fell behind on a Connor Bedard goal, tied it in the 2nd and then scored 3 times in the 3rd. They did it with Larkin out and Albert Johansson missing on the back end. That win put them at 6-4-3, 7th in the Atlantic, and they get to play this one at home in front of a crowd that had been booing Larkin since opening night.

No board is up for this one yet, so there's no price to argue. The question worth asking before puck drop is which Blues team gets on the plane. St. Louis is 6-6-1, and it has been the most streaky .500 team in the league for 2 weeks.

St. Louis Blues
(6-6-1)
10/30WvsBruins4-1
10/28LvsCanadiens0-2
10/24LvsHurricanes0-4
10/23WvsGolden Knights6-2
10/21WvsJets2-1
Detroit Red Wings
(6-4-3)
10/29WvsBlackhawks4-1
10/27W@Oilers4-3
10/25L@Flames1-4
10/23W@Canucks5-2
10/21L@Kraken3-4

In a week and a half the Blues beat Winnipeg 2-1, put 6 on Vegas, got shut out 4-0 by Carolina and 2-0 by Montreal, and then beat Boston 4-1. Back-to-back shutouts got people in St. Louis asking real questions, and the Boston game was the answer for now. Joel Hofer was in net for the Bruins win and for the Carolina loss. Jordan Binnington made 18 saves in the Montreal shutout. St. Louis hasn't said who starts in Detroit, and with how up and down this team has been, the goalie matters.

The Blues' injury list is mostly a defense problem. Torey Krug is on long-term IR with an ankle injury. Tyler Tucker had arthroscopic knee surgery and won't be re-assessed for 6 weeks. Logan Mailloux is also on IR, so St. Louis called up Quinton Burns from AHL Springfield. Dillon Dube and Ross Johnston being out thins the forward group too. A Red Wings team that just scored 3 in a period against Chicago will be going at a patched-up blue line.

For Detroit, the hockey question is simple. Can the forwards who covered for Larkin against Chicago do it again, now that the whole league knows he isn't coming back? The Red Wings haven't made the playoffs since 2016, and a front office running on an interim GM just lost its best center to a standoff. A home win over a .500 team won't fix any of that, but it would make the trade talks a lot quieter.

Blues vs. Red Wings: Polymarket Odds & Prediction (Oct. 31) — Red Wings Host Blues in First Game of the Post-Larkin Era