Red Wings 5, Blues 0

Video: Game Highlights  | Post Game Show
Photo Gallery: Dec. 26 vs. Detroit
Sound Bytes: Manny Legace | Post Game Press Conference

ST. LOUIS (AP) -Chris Osgood stopped 20 shots for his 45th career shutout, leading the Detroit Red Wings to a 5-0 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night.

Center Valtteri Filppula scored twice to pace the Red Wings, who won for the fifth time in their last six games and improved to 27-7-3 overall.

St. Louis, playing in front of its largest home crowd of the season, fell to 18-13-3.

The victory served as revenge for Osgood, who improved to 16-2-1. Osgood had an eight-game unbeaten streak snapped in a 3-2 loss in St. Louis on Dec. 20.

Hannu Toivonen, right, replaces Manny Legace in goal in the second period after Legace gave up his fourth goal of the game to the Detroit Red Wings. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)

Brian Rafalski added a goal and two assists for Detroit. Nicklas Lidstrom celebrated a new contract by scoring his fifth of the season for the Red Wings just 2:26 into the game. Jiri Hudler added a goal and an assist.

Osgood received plenty of help from his defense, which kept St. Louis in check all night. The defense limited St. Louis to just one shot on goal during a 1:09 span in the second period, when the Blues held a five-on-three advantage.

Lidstrom got the ball rolling by blasting a shot from the faceoff dot over the left shoulder of St. Louis goalie Manny Legace, who was pulled in the second period after giving up four goals on 16 shots.

Hudler pushed the lead to 2-0 converting on a pass from Mikael Samuelsson midway through the second period.

The Red Wings took control on a pair of goals by Filppula in a span of 126 seconds of the second period. Pavel Datsyuk set up the first tally with a pass across the goal mouth to a wide open Filppula, who tipped it into the net. Filppula added his second goal on a blast from the slot.

The Red Wings were without top wingers Henrik Zetterberg and Tomas Holmstrom, who each missed the contest due to injury. Zetterberg has a back ailment and Holmstrom hasn't played since suffering a knee injury on Dec. 20.

Filppula and Rafalski took up the slack. It was the second three-point night of the season for Rafalski.

Notes: The Blues sold 100 standing room only tickets to the sold-out contest for the first time in the history of the Scotttrade Center. ... St. Louis rookie winger David Perron missed his Tuesday night flight from Montreal to St. Louis and could not get back in time for the Wednesday morning skate. He was declared a healthy scratch. St. Louis defenseman Bryce Salvador missed the contest with a hip flexor injury. ... Detroit is 10-1-1 in December.