Blues 6, Red Wings 0: Former first-round pick Vladimir Tarasenko had two goals in his NHL debut as host St. Louis opened its Central Division title defense by dominating Detroit.

Chris Stewart also scored twice for the Blues, who outshot the Red Wings 17-2 in the first period and led by four goals after 40 minutes. T.J. Oshie scored short-handed and added two assists, while Jaroslav Halak needed only 14 saves to open his season with a shutout.

Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard was pulled early in the third period after allowing five goals on 28 shots. Jonas Gustavsson made seven saves in relief but allowed a power-play goal by Patrik Berglund.

Tarasenko opened the scoring six minutes into the first period by sneaking behind the Red Wings defense and beating Howard with a forehand deke. Stewart increased the lead later in the period before Tarasenko made it 3-0 less than 30 seconds into the second.

Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, Kevin Shattenkirk and Alexander Steen added two assists apiece. The Blues finished 4-for-5 on the power play while Detroit was 0-for-4.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Tarasenko had 31 points in as many games playing with Ilya Kovalchuk in the Kontinental Hockey League during the lockout. … Damien Brunner had three shots on goal for the Red Wings in his first NHL game. … Henrik Zetterberg was held without a shot and was 1-for-6 in the faceoff circle in his first game as Detroit’s captain.