Having claimed a magnificent victory against Hearts at Tynecastle on Boxing Day, it was no surprise to see Buddies boss Gus MacPherson name an unchanged starting eleven.
It was equally foreseeable that opposite number Jimmy Calderwood would make changes after a disappointing draw at Gretna.
Michael Hart was ruled out with an injury, while Karim Touzani and on-loan winger Sone Aluko were relegated to the bench.
Reinstated to the Aberdeen line-up were midfielder Chris Clark, captain Scott Severin and left-back Dan Smith, who made a very rare start for the Dons.
Defensively the visitors looked extremely fragile in the opening stages and the Buddies had a wonderful opportunity to open the scoring inside five minutes.
Franco Miranda beat Richard Foster on the left flank before drilling the ball across goal for Billy Mehmet, but the striker fired wide from close range.
Saints were dominant as Aberdeen struggled to even put two passes together and Stewart Kean twice headed over from close range as the Dons rearguard switched off completely.
St Mirren had only netted 11 league goals prior to this game and it was easy to see that their significant problems lay in the goalscoring department.
Aberdeen continued to look toothless after the interval and St Mirren had another decent chance in the 55th minute.
Miranda's mis-hit shot fell to defender Ian Maxwell on the edge of the box, but his effort looped harmlessly over Jamie Langfield's crossbar.
Calderwood was visibly frustrated with his players and made two crucial changes in the 67th minute, replacing Dan Smith and Derek Young with Aluko and Lovell.
These changes paid dividends for Aberdeen as Aluko set up Lovell in the 83rd minute and the striker's shot was saved superbly by Chris Smith.
Moments later, the Dons took an undeserved lead when Alan Reid failed to deal with a long ball and Lovell capitalised in clinical fashion for his second goal in as many games to secure a valuable three points for Calderwood's men.