DETROIT, Michigan -- Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom scored the first hat trick of his twenty-year NHL career Wednesday night, leading the Red Wings to a 5-2 win over the St. Louis Blues.
Lidstrom opened and closed the scoring for the Red Wings as they looked to rebound from a 5-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Monday.
After a scoreless first period, Lidstrom got Detroit on the board with a slap shot from the top of the left faceoff circle 4:02 into the second. Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk gained the St. Louis zone before Lidstrom jumped into the play, taking a pass from Zetterberg and slapping a shot past Blues netminder Jaroslav Halak.
Carlo Colaiacovo responded just 1:18 later for St. Louis. Colaiacovo gave the puck off to Dave Scatchard as he gained the Detroit zone, drove to the net, and got the puck back to put a backhander past Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard.
Niklas Kronwall put Detroit back up with 3:53 remaining in the period, snapping a shot from the high slot past Halak just after the expiration of a St. Louis penalty.
The Red Wings made it 3-1 just 1:31 later, when Danny Cleary tapped in the rebound of a Lidstrom shot on the power play.
Lidstrom's second of the night gave Detroit a three-goal lead at 2:26 of the third. He blasted a shot from the blue line past Halak on another power play.
Brad Winchester tipped an Alex Steen shot past Howard at 6:42 of the period to give the Blues a power play goal of their own and cut the lead back down to two.
Lidstrom wrapped up the hat trick with an empty net goal with 30 seconds remaining.
The Red Wings finished the night two-for-five on the power play. St. Louis went one-for-three.
Halak stopped 32 of the 36 shots he faced on the night while Howard made 19 saves on 21 St. Louis chances.
Notes: Kris Draper was back in the Detroit lineup, with Drew Miller out to make room in the lineup.
Wings really need to rebound after the mess on Monday. It's the Blues tonight so that probably means an easy win or a heartbreaking loss.
Howard is back in net. He usually bounces back from bad games pretty well.
Draper in for Miller; Jiri Hudler is safe this time around.
I might miss the start, gonna try to get to the gym before the game.
Caught the first at the gym. Wings looked good to start, Blues kicked it up for the latter half of the period.
Helm may be back, but McClement is still a dick.
Great shot by the Perfect Human. Smart play to jump up into the play there.
Ericsson got a bit burned there. Damn.
Edit: Solid on the two-on-one next shift, though.
Did he just say "Holy Whack-a-Mole?"
That was a little scary. If Howard had touched it, that's a goal. Damn, E, be careful.
Power play kept to the perimeter, not gonna get anything. Ericsson good on the two-on-one again.
Fantastic shift by Helm.
What's with the defense scoring today?
Kronwall outwaited Jackman there. Very nice play.
Backes is a sack of sh*t.
Holmstrom avenged.
Jimmah!
Why wasn't that a penalty shot? I'll take it but WTF?
Why wasn't that a penalty shot? I'll take it but WTF?
It was worth it! I was just going to complain about it, too hahaha.
And that's why I was fine with two minutes.
Great shot, great screen.
Datsyuk doesn't lose the puck, he just loans it to the opposition until he needs it back.
Karma's a bitch, Backes.
Damn. Real nice tip.
Helm telling Babcock, "You're playing Hudler but keeping me on the bench? We'll see about that."
Did Pavs just go between the legs? Holy Christ...
Curly Fries!
I'm surprised no one jinxed it by how much they kept talking about him possibly getting a hat trick, but that's awesome 
Lidstrom is too perfect to be jinxed.
OK... I am back from my trip to the desert and I am no longer dependent on 97.1 for the game. I see that I missed Nick's first career hat trick (go figure) however, I am looking forward to watching them on TV this evening! Hopefully DirecTV doesn't bone me with the NHL network broadcast as I rather enjoy Ken and Mickey. Go Wings and I look forward to seeing you guys in the forums.
Nicklas Lidstrom
Credit: Clark Rasmussen
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