St. Louis Blues winger Patrik Berglund needed a little spark of emotion to get going.
Berglund broke out of a 10-game scoring drought with two goals to lead the Blues to a 4-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night.
The 22-year-old scored twice in a span of 4:20 in the first period to break a 1-1 tie. The win helped the Blues keep pace in the tight Western Conference. They had won two of their previous seven home games after starting the season 8-0-1.
Jaroslav Halak stopped 35 shots to improve to 13-10-4. Halak had given up 11 goals on 67 shots in two losses to Detroit earlier this season.
Berglund got the second two-goal game of his career. He scored twice in a 2-0 win over Los Angeles on March 24, 2009. The 25th overall pick in the 2006 draft, Berglund whistled a shot off defenseman Niklas Kronwall to give St. Louis a 2-1 lead.
''I think I've been more and more emotional lately,'' Berglund said. ''Maybe that brings out the aggressive play in me.''
Berglund turned in one of the finest performances of his three-year career. His two-goal outburst gave St. Louis a lead it kept for the win.
''When he gets that first stride going, he's a load,'' St. Louis coach Davis Payne said. ''We got a real strong game out of him.''
Erik Johnson and Matt D'Agostini also scored for the Blues, who won for the third time in five games. Johnson tallied on a power play in the opening period. It was his second goal of the season and first in 25 games. D'Agostini converted on a breakaway to give St. Louis a 4-1 lead in the second period.
St. Louis started out strong, scoring three goals on its first 13 shots. That aggressive play set the tone for the entire game.
''We came out of the locker room knowing we wanted to set the pace of play,'' Payne said. ''I thought we did a real good job of that early.''
Detroit coach Mike Babcock agreed.
''You've got to start on time and you've got to get the lead in this league. Or else it makes it hard on you.''
Detroit goalie Chris Osgood, with 399 wins, was looking to becoming the 10th goalie in NHL history to record 400.
The Red Wings, who had a two-game winning streak snapped, were without leading point-producer Pavel Datsyuk, who suffered a broken bone in his right hand in a 5-4 overtime win over Vancouver on Wednesday.
''He's our go-to guy when we need a goal or to get the power play going,'' Detroit defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom said. ''He's going to be missed, that's for sure. That's why we need all the guys to step up.''
Johan Franzen, who scored the Red Wings' first goal, took over for Datsyuk on a line with Tomas Holmstrom and Henrik Zetterberg. Datsyuk has 12 goals and 27 assists. He has played in at least 75 games each of the past six seasons.
Lidstrom cut the deficit to 4-2 during a two-man advantage in the second period. Patrick Eaves followed with his eighth goal just over five minutes later.
Detroit outshot St. Louis 15-4 in a scoreless third period. Halak made several big saves in the closing minute.
''There's no question they were hanging on and we were pushing,'' Babcock said. ''The bottom line is the cellophane they had from post to post.''
Halak received plenty of help from his teammates, who blocked 10 shots.
''It's always nice to get a win against a division rival,'' Halak said. ''Especially against Detroit, they got a great team. We needed to get some points and I'm pleased with the effort.''
Notes: Detroit defenseman Brian Rafalski has eight assists in his past five games. ... St. Louis has sold out all 17 of its home games this season. ... St. Louis Cardinals players Matt Holliday and David Freese were in attendance. ... This was the first game of a five-game homestand for St. Louis. ... Detroit is 8-5-1 on the road. ... St. Louis center T.J. Oshie, out with a broken ankle, turned 24 on Thursday.
