The goalie matchup wasn't the one the preview expected. John Gibson went for Detroit even with the lower-body issue and the rough start to his season that had been sending starts to Daniil Tarasov. St. Louis gave the net to Joel Hofer, the steadier of its 2 goalies, rather than Jordan Binnington. That turned out to be the most important lineup decision of the night. Hofer let in Copp's goal and then 1 more over the final 2 periods.
The 2nd period decided the game. St. Louis scored twice in the middle frame and Detroit scored none, turning a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead. That was the most offense the Blues had produced in a while. They had been held to 1 goal in 2 of their 3 losses on the trip, including the 1-3 loss in Nashville that ended it.
Detroit didn't fold. Each team scored once in the 3rd, so the Wings stayed 1 goal back the whole way and the Blues had to hold on rather than coast. The scoring summary available for this game names Copp for Detroit and doesn't show what Viktor Arvidsson, Lucas Raymond or Philip Broberg did, so the preview's headline scorers get no verdict here. The bigger point holds anyway. A Detroit team that had scored 1 goal in 2 games scored 2 in this one, and it still wasn't enough against Hofer.
St. Louis is now 2-0 against Detroit this season after the 5-4 win on Halloween, and it's back to 8-8-2. That's the same .500 team, but one that stopped the slide right away at home. Detroit leaves with its slump extended and lost another 1-goal game, a type of game it has struggled to win all year. The trip continues and ends in Tampa Bay.
