January 6, 2006

They survived.

There were no pulls, tears, twists, tweaks or fractures to report for Steve Yzerman and Manny Legace on Thursday night. Maybe a few bruises, but that's in the job description.

Now they can move forward with their health in tow.

Yzerman played for the first time in nine games, and Legace made his first start in more than a month, as the Wings beat a dilapidated St. Louis Blues team, 3-0, at Joe Louis Arena.

Yzerman skated on the fourth line with Tomas Holmstrom and Dan Cleary, and on his first shift he was checked, trapped in a corner and knocked down. He shook it all off. Yzerman almost set up a goal on a sequence that was foiled early in the first period, and later in the second he missed a shot in front of a crowded net.

Yzerman's final line showed that his nagging groin injury could be a thing of the past. He was on the ice for 13 shifts and a total of 10:03. He had one shot on goal and one hit given, he blocked a shot, and he won two of three face-offs.

Yzerman, who received treatment after the game, was unavailable for comment.

"I thought he looked good," coach Mike Babcock said. "He didn't get a lot of ice time. ... I thought, for tonight, it was a good start as long as he's not hurt. I thought he made some good plays. He had some opportunities, and I think he'll just get better and better."

Yzerman was playing his first game since Dec. 9, when he suffered a groin injury at Washington. His groin has been a recurring problem. A groin injury forced him to miss the first four games of the season. He returned for two games, but he had to sit out the next four.

Yzerman has four goals and nine points in 21 games.

Does Babcock think Yzerman will play against Nashville tonight?

"I haven't talked to him," Babcock said, "but I would assume he would."

For Legace, it was his first game since suffering a sprained left knee Nov. 25. Before his return to the Wings, he played one game for the Grand Rapids Griffins on Dec. 30, allowing two goals in a win. In Legace's absence, Chris Osgood went 10-5 and allowed 2.9 goals a game.

Legace was more than eager to return. He stopped 15 shots for his first shutout since Oct. 22 at Columbus.

"I felt good," he said. "Rusty -- but there wasn't a bunch of work around me."

On facing so few shots, Legace said: "Well, I would have liked to get in the 20s. I think our shot guy was wrong. I pretty much watched a great defensive effort."

Babcock said: "Manny didn't have many tough saves, but when he did, he controlled it and didn't let any bounce off to generate a second chance."

The Wings upped their record to 4-1 against St. Louis this season and have outscored the Blues, 18-8. With the league's schedule makers placing more emphasis on divisional play, the Wings and Blues will meet three more times this season.

The Wings had given up two-goal leads in three of their previous four games before Thursday, and they couldn't find an answer as to why until St. Louis came to town. The Wings were simply too much for the slumping Blues.

Pavel Datsyuk's power-play goal gave the Wings a 1-0 lead at 9:42 of the first, and Kris Draper's shorthanded goal late in the first made it 2-0. Henrik Zetterberg added another goal at 1:45 of the third.

NOTEBOOK: After injuries kept left wing Brendan Shanahan (back) and defenseman Jason Woolley (hip flexor) out of Wednesday's practice, both players returned to the ice Thursday night. ... The Wings' penalty killers haven't allowed a power play goal in five straight games; they stopped four St. Louis power plays. The Wings have killed 19 consecutive penalties. ... The second period marked the first time this season that the Wings and their opponent have had a penalty-free period.