Blues vs. Red Wings: Aleksanteri Kaskimaki's First NHL Goal Caps a Three-Goal Third-Period Rally

Aleksanteri Kaskimaki's first NHL goal came in his 11th game. When it finally arrived, it was a redirection of an Alexey Toropchenko shot from the left boards, it arrived 18 seconds after the tying goal, and it completed one of the more absurd comebacks you will see on a Saturday afternoon.

The St. Louis Blues beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-4 at Little Caesars Arena, scoring three straight goals in the third period after trailing 4-2. They did it on just 15 shots for the entire game, which is the hockey version of acing the final after skipping half the lectures.

The Blues Barely Showed Up, and Still Led

The opening 20 minutes were bizarre. St. Louis took exactly one shot in the first period and it went in: Dalibor Dvorsky beat John Gibson at 2:29 off a rush, with Justin Barron and Dylan Holloway assisting. Detroit outshot the Blues 8-1 in the period, according to NHL.com, and tied it at 8:13 when Michael Rasmussen stripped Joel Hofer behind the net and J.T. Compher put the puck into the vacated cage for his first goal of the season.

Blues coach Jim Montgomery did not sugarcoat the start. "I didn't think we had our checking legs for the first 30 minutes and we weren't putting pucks in the right spots," he said.

Detroit took over in the second. Keegan Kolesar scored 41 seconds into the period for a 2-1 lead, his first point in 14 games since the Red Wings acquired him from Vegas in an offseason trade, per the AP. Lucas Raymond then made it 3-1 at 13:14 all by himself, a solo curl from the corner to the high slot that ended with a wrist shot beating Hofer on the blocker side.

St. Louis grabbed a lifeline with 28 seconds left in the period. Robert Thomas won a puck battle along the boards and drove to the net, Gibson made the first stop, and Jimmy Snuggerud was there to finish for his team-high eighth goal. That made it 3-2 at the break, and Detroit coach Todd McLellan pointed to that sequence afterward. "But we make a sloppy play and get scored on, and all of a sudden the momentum is going their way," he said.

The Turning Point: 18 Seconds That Flipped Detroit Upside Down

Emmitt Finnie looked like he had restored order when he scored on the power play from the slot at 3:29 of the third, making it 4-2 and giving him six goals on the season. Detroit had been 5-1-3 in its previous nine games, according to NHL.com, and a two-goal lead at home felt like a safe bet.

It was not. Pavel Buchnevich cut the deficit to 4-3 at 8:37, ripping a shot from between the circles off a Jake Neighbours assist. Then came the sequence that decided the afternoon. At 12:57, Barron hammered a loose puck in the slot on a one-timer to tie it 4-4. At 13:15, Kaskimaki got his stick on Toropchenko's low shot and redirected it past Gibson for the winner.

That is two goals in 18 seconds, which is roughly the time it takes to decide which Halloween candy to eat first.

Stars of the Comeback

Kaskimaki became the second Blues player in the past 10 years whose first NHL goal stood up as the game winner, according to NHL.com. The other was Neighbours, back on Oct. 23, 2021, and Neighbours was on the ice setting up Buchnevich's goal on this day. "This is pretty unreal," Kaskimaki said. "I had chances and looks in the first few games, so now to get one and have it be the game-winner is a good feeling." The AP noted he is 22 years old and from Finland.

Barron had a goal and an assist, opening the scoring with the feed to Dvorsky and closing the gap with the equalizer. "Obviously, that was not the best game we've ever played," Barron said. "With that being said, I really liked the way we came back in the third period."

Snuggerud added an assist on Barron's tying goal to go with his eighth of the season. Thomas had one assist and won 14 of 21 faceoffs, and Philip Broberg led all skaters in ice time at 27:09 with three blocked shots.

Hofer made 24 saves on 28 shots in the opener of a four-game road trip. Not his cleanest outing, between the misplayed puck behind the net and Raymond's blocker-side finish, but nothing got past him after the Blues took the lead.

For Detroit, Raymond had a goal and an assist in 19:18, and Finnie scored on the power play in 21:13 of work. Gibson finished with 10 saves on 15 shots, and McLellan defended him firmly. "You can't put this on John Gibson," McLellan said. "You can look at five goals on 15 shots, but he had no chance on the first two, then two lasers from the hash marks and then a tip."

Stats That Matter

• 28-15: Detroit's shot advantage. The Red Wings did almost everything except win.
• 3: Straight third-period goals for St. Louis after falling behind 4-2.
• 18 seconds: The gap between Barron's equalizer and Kaskimaki's winner.
• 30-21: Detroit's edge in hits, part of a physical afternoon that did not translate.
• 20: Blues giveaways, a number Montgomery will not enjoy on film.

What It Means

St. Louis improves to 7-6-1 with 15 points and has won two straight, following up a 4-1 home win over Boston with this smash-and-grab in Detroit. The Blues are 3-4-0 on the road and move on to face the Rangers on Tuesday as the trip continues.

Detroit falls to 6-5-3, also with 15 points, and has its two-game winning streak snapped. The Red Wings were playing their second game since the team suspended center and former captain Dylan Larkin without pay; the AP reported that Larkin, who requested a trade during the offseason, decided he would sit out until he is dealt. That is a lot of noise around a team that has otherwise been collecting points. Detroit visits Florida on Monday.

Closing Take

This game is a reminder that hockey does not grade on effort or shot totals. Detroit outshot, outhit and outplayed St. Louis for long stretches, and the Blues still left with two points because they turned a messy afternoon into a tidy 18-second burst. Kaskimaki called it unreal. Gibson's postgame film session will probably feel the same way.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details from the Associated Press; postgame quotes and notes as reported by NHL.com.