Red Wings goalie returns to blank Blues

DETROIT -- The struggling St. Louis Blues were the perfect opponent for Manny Legace.

Playing for the first time in more than a month, Legace needed to make only 15 saves for his third shutout of the season, and the Detroit Red Wings beat St. Louis 3-0 Thursday night.

Pavel Datsyuk, Kris Draper and Henrik Zetterberg scored for the Western Conference-leading Red Wings, who have won six of seven.

The Blues have won an NHL-low 10 games.

"It was a good team to come back to," Legace acknowledged. "We caught them on a back-to-back night, and an off night, too.

"I felt good. Rusty, especially on scrambles around the net, but I didn't have many of those."

Legace had been out since injuring his right knee on Nov. 25. He set a league record with 10 wins in October.

"He didn't let any bounce off for any second chances, and that was real important," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said.

The Red Wings also welcomed back captain Steve Yzerman, who played for the first time since Dec. 9. Yzerman has appeared in just 22 of 40 games this season because of two groin injuries.

"I thought he played a solid game, especially considering he's been off for some time," teammate Brendan Shanahan said. "It was nice to have him on the ice again."

Curtis Sanford made 28 saves for the Blues, who have lost four of their last five -- two by shutout.

Midway through the first period, Datsyuk scored his 16th goal on a power play for his team-high 45th point. Draper scored late in the first on a short-handed goal

Zetterberg added a goal on a rebound early in the third period.