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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
DETROIT (AP) -- The Detroit Red Wings' veteran defensemen, who
have looked old and slow at times this season, have played just
fine in front of goalie Manny Legace.
|  | | Red Wings goalie Manny Legace stopped 30 shots Tuesday night, falling one goal shy of his second straight shutout. |
Legace lost a bid for his second straight shutout late in the
game and settled for a win as the Red Wings beat the St. Louis
Blues 2-1 in an early season matchup of traditional Western
Conference powers Tuesday night.
The Blues kept Legace busy, outshooting the Red Wings 31-23. But
Legace credited his defense for limiting St. Louis' quality
chances.
"The defensive corps we have is so steady and we rely on it so
much," said Legace. "It makes my job much easier. It's very
comfortable to trust guys like that."
Legace, 4-0 last year, blanked Chicago 4-0 in his first start of
this season last week. He was 2:21 away from making it two shutouts
in a row when the Blues' Jochen Hecht scored on a short-handed
wraparound.
"He should've had a shutout," Detroit coach Scotty Bowman
said. "He deserved it. He played well. He played last year and got
four wins and he's much more experienced."
St. Louis lifted goaltender Roman Turek for an extra attacker in
the final seconds but couldn't get another shot against Legace.
"It was a lot of body checking and physical play," said Turek.
"People are talking that they have an old team, but it's still a
very strong team with good players."
Second-period goals 1:21 apart by Sergei Fedorov and Martin
Lapointe gave Detroit its first home win in three tries.
The Red Wings were also playing for the first time since captain
Steve Yzerman underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee
Monday. The team says Yzerman is out indefinitely.
"It's one big guy you can't replace, but if everyone pulls
together we can make up for it," defenseman Chris Chelios said.
Chelios twisted his knee in the third period and was examined at
a hospital after the game. The extent of his injury was not know.
"He went for a puck and he just turned on his leg," Bowman
said.
Fedorov, whose point-blank deflection was stopped by Turek a few
minutes before, was unguarded in the right slot when he easily
converted a pass from Pat Verbeek to break a scoreless tie 16:01
into the second period.
Lapointe got open between the circles and slipped a shot into
the lower left corner of the net to give the Red Wings a 2-0 lead
at 17:22.
"We had the puck on the second goal, and on the first we had
three guys going for the same guy," Blues coach Joel Quenneville
said.
Before then, Legace was at his best while Fedorov was serving a
double minor for high sticking Chris Pronger. Legace was screened
when he gloved a hard shot from the right point from Pavol Demitra.
"At the last second I saw him wind up and shoot it," Legace
said. "I did see it."
The Red Wings, who surrendered three power-play goals in a 4-2
loss Sunday to Calgary, stopped four Blues power plays.
"We had a lot of opportunities, but our power play has been
pretty lackluster for the first six games," Pronger said. "In
order for us to be successful, especially the way they're calling
penalties, we have to get our power play going."
Game notes
This was the 200th regular-season meeting between the Blues
and Red Wings and the 100th in Detroit. The Blues lead the all-time
series, 94-72-34. ... Red Wings defenseman Maxim Kuznetsov made his
NHL debut. It was Kuznetsov that Yzerman tripped over during a
preseason game, causing the knee injury that led to Monday's
surgery. ... The Blues have outshot all six of their opponents this
season. ... The Blues' Pierre Turgeon was scoreless after earning
six assists in his previous four games.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
St. Louis Clubhouse
Detroit Clubhouse
RECAPS
Ottawa 6
Philadelphia 1
Colorado 4
Washington 3
New Jersey 3
Atlanta 3
Detroit 2
St. Louis 1
Montreal 4
Buffalo 3
Anaheim 4
NY Islanders 3
Los Angeles 1
Nashville 1
Edmonton 6
Boston 1
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Slava Kozlov feeds Sergei Fedorov for the Detroit goal.
avi: 552 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Brent Gilchrist finds Martin Lapointe, who beats Roman Turek for the Detroit score.
avi: 725 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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