Red Wings launch offensive barrage in rout of Canucks
DETROIT -- The Red Wings scored a season-high eight goals off the NHL leader in goals-against average.
They scored three power-play goals in the third period and went on to beat the Canucks, 8-3, Sunday at Joe Louis Arena.
"I wasn't good enough," said Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo, who entered the game with a 1.45 goals-against average.
"Getting scored on eight times is embarrassing. It's one of those games where you want to forget about it and move on."
"You want to look at the video and see what might have went wrong or what you weren't doing that could have prevented a few of those at least."
Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said he was pleased that his team managed two wins during a difficult stretch.
"This is a game that is a tough game because we're playing at 5 o'clock after playing at 7 o'clock (on Saturday)," he said. "We feel real fortunate we got back-to-back wins."
Damien Brunner scored his team-leading ninth and 10th goals and also had two assists to lead the Wings with four points.
Henrik Zetterberg and Niklas Kronwall each had a goal and two assists. Four others had two points: Joakim Andersson (two goals), Daniel Cleary (goal, assist), Pavel Datsyuk (two assists) and Jonathan Ericsson (two assists). Jordin Tootoo also added a goal.
Brunner's second goal of the game gave the Wings a three-goal cushion at 9:36 of the third period. Andersson finished off the scoring with goals at 16:39 and 17:31 of the third period.
Cleary, Zetterberg and Brunner each scored power-play goals in the second period to give the Wings a 5-3 lead.
"You know, I'm happy they're going in right now," Brunner said of reaching 10 goals in 19 games. "I play with great players and they know how to give me the puck. It gets you confidence."
How did he explain scoring that many on Luongo?
"He's a great goaltender and you have to beat him by putting pucks in the net and driving hard, and that's what we did today," Brunner said.
Cleary's power-play goal early in the second period tied the game at 3. It was Cleary's second goal in two games and his second point of the game. He has three goals in his last four games.
Brunner got his own rebound and sent a pass through the crease to Cleary, who tapped the puck in from the left post at 2:57. Patrick Eaves appeared to score with 5:40 remaining in the period, but the goal was immediately disallowed because the referee had already blown the whistle. The Wings instead went on the power play, after Dale Weise was called for illegal contact to the head of Kent Huskins.
The Wings scored 50 seconds into the power play. Zetterberg scored on a feed from Pavel Datsyuk at 15:10.
Zetterberg and Kronwall assisted on Brunner's power-play goal at 19:18.
The Wings trailed, 3-2, after 20 minutes.
"I thought the first period was real tight," Babcock said. "(Vancouver) basically had four chances and scored on three of them."
Daniel Sedin scored a pair of first-period goals, assisted each time by his brother, Henrik. He opened the scoring at 5:45.
Tootoo and Kronwall scored goals 1:29 apart to give the Wings a 2-1 lead.
The Wings failed to score on back-to-back power plays in the first period. Less than a minute after Vancouver's second penalty ended, Tootoo scored unassisted at 11:08. Tootoo skated down the right boards and his shot deflected in off the leg of Vancouver defensemen Keith Ballard.
Kronwall was credited with a goal at 12:37, although replays appeared to show the puck deflecting off Justin Abdelkader's stick.
The Canucks answered with two goals in a span of 2:08. The Sedin brothers used Joe Louis Arena's lively boards to tie the game, 2-2, at 16:18. Henrik Sedin fired the puck from the neutral zone. Daniel Sedin collected the puck after it bounced back from the end boards and shot it past Jimmy Howard.
Chris Higgins scored on a wraparound at 18:26 to give the Canucks a 3-2 lead.
Babcock credited the leadership of Zetterberg, Kronwall and Datsyuk for playing a big part in the victory.
"It was good to see the puck go in," Zetterberg said. "We've been struggling a little bit and I think we've been doing good stuff in the end, but haven't really gotten the reward. We got it today."
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