Red Wings Suffer Spooky Halloween Collapse, Lose 5-4 To Blues

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The classic horror movie trope of an antagonist suddenly roaring back to life just when the protagonists think they've finished them off played out on the ice Saturday afternoon - and on Halloween, fittingly enough.

The Detroit Red Wings comfortably led 4-2 over the visiting St. Louis Blues at Little Caesars Arena near the midway point of the third period, only to watch the Blues score three unanswered goals, including two in 18 seconds, to take the lead and ultimately hold on for a 5-4 victory.

With the setback, the Red Wings dropped to 6-5-3 through the first 14 games of the season, and 4-4-1 at home. 

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It was the Blues who struck first courtesy of a backhander by Dalibor Dvorsky from in tight. But Detroit knotted the score soon afterward when Michael Rasmussen stole the puck from goaltender Joel Hofer behind the net and fed J.T. Compher, who tallied his first goal of the season. 

Early in the second period, forward Keegan Kolesar took a pass from Carter Mazur and broke in alone on Hofer, scoring his first goal since being traded to the Red Wings over the summer. Detroit then extended its lead to 3-1 when Lucas Raymond scored his fifth goal in his last six games.

St. Louis cut the deficit to one late in the period when Jimmy Snuggerud poked a loose puck past Gibson at the side of the net.

But Detroit restored its two-goal cushion thanks to a power-play goal from Emmitt Finnie at 3:29 of the third period. The Red Wings appeared to have things well in hand at that point, but the Blues would quickly flip the script. 

Pavel Buchnevich sniped a shot past Gibson's blocker at 8:37, followed by another blast from Justin Barron that also beat Gibson on the blocker side.

Just 18 seconds later, Blues forward Aleksanteri Kaskimaki scored the first goal of his NHL career, deflecting a shot from Alexey Toropchenko past Gibson, giving St. Louis the lead and stunning the Red Wings and their fans. 

Despite pulling Gibson for the extra attacker, the Red Wings couldn't come up with the equalizer and suffered a disappointing loss. 

Gibson finished with 10 saves on the 15 shots he faced; Hofer picked up the win for the Blues after turning aside 24 of 28 shots. 

The Red Wings will now head onto the road for two straight divisional matchups starting Monday against the Florida Panthers. 

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