Wings offense collapses again

Detroit Red Wings' Drew Miller, left, and Patrick Eaves collide while chasing a loose puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the St. Louis Blues Tuesday.

ST. LOUIS -- Alex Steen scored unassisted for the go-ahead goal in the second period, and the St. Louis Blues held the Detroit Red Wings to single-digit shots in all three periods of a 2-1 victory on Tuesday night.

Matt D'Agostini added a power-play goal for the Blues, who ended the Red Wings' four-game winning streak and halted goalie Jimmy Howard's five-game winning streak against St. Louis. Detroit was 0-for-6 on the power play and is 0-for-16 the last three games. They are 2-for-24 on road advantages.

Howard made 35 saves in his first loss against the Blues since a 4-3 shootout defeat on Feb. 9, 2010, and Justin Abdelkader scored the game's first goal. Detroit totaled 22 shots, but only four in the third.

The Blues are 3-0-1 since Ken Hitchcock replaced Davis Payne as coach. They have scored a power-play goal in three of the four games after totaling just three power-play goals the first 13 games.

The second period was the Blues' best, with a 19-9 shots advantage and Steen's team-leading seventh goal at 17:19. Steen picked off a blind backhand clearing effort by Johan Franzen and beat Howard with a wrist shot from the left circle.

Abdelkader ended a 12-game drought at 6:02 of the first, putting the Red Wings in front with a pass across the crease that deflected off a defender's skate and past goalie Brian Elliott. D'Agostini tied it with his fifth of the season on a power play late in the first.

Just 12 seconds after Jonathan Ericsson was whistled for interference, D'Agostini got a loose puck in the slot after Patrik Berglund's shot was blocked by the defense.

Blues forward Chris Stewart got a game misconduct for checking Nicklas Kronwall into the boards near the Red Wings bench midway through the first period. Kronwall was assisted off the ice but returned in the second period.

NOTES: New Cardinals manager Mike Matheny, wearing a Blues jersey with his No. 22, dropped a ceremonial first puck with captains Nicklas Lidstrom of Detroit and St. Louis' David Backes at center ice. ... Attendance of 19,150 was the Blues' eighth sellout of the season. ... Hockey Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman, due to be inducted into the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame on Wednesday night, watched the game from the press box.

Wild 4, Blue Jackets 2

COLUMBUS -- Cal Clutterbuck scored in the third period and the Minnesota Wild rallied for the win.

Matt Cullen scored on the power play for his team-leading eighth goal, and Nick Johnson and Devin Setoguchi also scored for Minnesota, who closed out a five-game trip with a 3-2-0 record.

Niklas Backstrom stopped a season-high 43 shots for the Wild, off to one of the best starts in franchise history at 10-5-3.

Antoine Vermette broke out of a scoring slump with a short-handed goal and Mark Letestu scored on the power play in the first period for Columbus, which has the fewest points in the NHL.

Steve Mason made 20 saves for the Blue Jackets.

The game was the first with both James Wisniewski and Clutterbuck in the lineup since Wisniewski elbowed Clutterbuck in a preseason game resulting in an eight-game suspension to start the season for Wisniewski.