Blues’ Robert Thomas leaves loss to Red Wings with upper-body injury

As if the St. Louis Blues’ collapse against the rival Detroit Red Wings wasn’t bad enough, the Blues lost star center Robert Thomas to injury early in the third period of the 6-4 defeat on Saturday.

Thomas took his last shift in the contest early in the third period, when the Blue Notes were holding onto a 4-3 lead that was later erased by Alex DeBrincat’s first tally of the season before a pair of Simon Edvinsson marks sealed the game away for Detroit.

Earlier in the evening, the Blues jumped out to a 4-0 lead behind tallies from Jordan Kyrou, Pavel Buchnevich, and Jake Neighbours (twice). Thomas assisted on both of Neighbours’ tallies, including a slick primary feed on the second that would end up being the last bright spot in a frustrating night for St. Louis.

Less than four minutes later, Jonatan Berggren opened the Red Wings’ account by burying a beautiful cross-ice feed from Andrew Copp. Emmitt Finnie then slammed home the Wings’ second goal during a netfront scramble with just over a minute left in the second frame before a J.T. Compher tip-in shrank the Blues’ lead to one just 27 seconds later.

Thomas’s upper-body injury interrupts a purple patch for the player, whose two-point night gave him four points in three games, including his 400th career point on Tuesday against the L.A. Kings. Before his recent heater, Thomas had suffered through an uncharacteristically slow start (1 G, 2 A in 5 GP).

The two-way ace was the hottest player in the NHL down the stretch in 2024-25, leading all players in points after the 4 Nations Faceoff (40 P in 26 GP). Thomas and the Blues will hope any absence is brief as the club struggles for defensive consistency (4.13 team GAA, second-worst) amid a three-game skid.