The Red Wings let in five goals on just fifteen shots, and three goals in the third period to drop their afternoon matchup at home 5-4 to the St. Louis Blues to conclude October. Detroit managed to get contributions from all four lines and had the Blues offense shut down for much of the first half of the game but found themselves putting a lot of teaching moments on tape for the second half.

“You can look at five on fifteen or whatever it was, and it’s not gonna show up real well in his number column, but you know, maybe you [get back] one of ’em, but don’t pin that on John Gibson by any means.” Head coach Todd McLellan said postgame.

Still, the Red Wings, despite themselves sit at a just under .500 record to start the season, far better than many pundits had them before the year began. They’ll have four games over the next seven days to start November and every point in the standings is going to matter that much more, even if the team isn’t exactly expecting to make the playoffs this year.

Helping things has been the emergence of Emmitt Finnie at center, including four points in his last five games as he’s taken over duties on the top line.

However, with the turn of the calendar, the Red Wings now have just under a month to re-sign, or find a trade, for disgruntled defenseman Simon Edvinsson. Talk of what other teams could be offering has heated up around the league as attention shifts away from Larkin as the impasse grows between him and the team.

Detroit must find Edvinsson a new contract, with the Red Wings or in a trade before Dec. 1 if they hope to not waste his season.

In Case You Missed It:

Former Red Wings assistant GM Doug Maclean certainly didn’t mince words when it came to his opinion on the Larkin situation

Red Wings Extra

There was some Red Wings prospect on (former) prospect action yesterday in Sweden as Charlie Forslund opened scoring for Almtuna IS on former Red Wings sixth round pick Victor Brattstrom. Ken Holland in his last year as GM of the Red Wings selected Brattstrom with the 160th pick in the NHL entry draft in 2018.

The Swedish netminder played in 50 games for the Red Wings AHL affiliate Grand Rapids Griffins but was unable to crack an NHL roster.

Hockey Now Network:

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: What does the rise of Arturs Silovs mean for the Pittsburgh Penguins future in net?

Colorado Hockey Now:

Florida Hockey Now: The Florida Panthers probably won’t be one of the teams pursuing Nikita Kucherov.

Chicago Hockey Now: The Chicago Blackhawks joined the Red Wings in blowing a lead to lose 5-4 on Halloween.