Red Wings dominate the Canucks
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- The Detroit Red Wings' stars made sure the trip home would be a happy one.
Henrik Zetterberg scored twice and Pavel Datsyuk had three assists as the Red Wings dominated the Canucks for a second time this season, winning, 5-2, at Rogers Arena on Saturday night.
Jimmy Howard held down the fort for a second straight night, making 24 saves through 40 minutes and 33 total.
Justin Abdelkader ended with a two-goal game after one shot by Datsyuk went in off Abdelkader's skate and another went in off his chest. Daniel Cleary also had a goal, and Johan Franzen had two assists. An attempt by Niklas Kronwall to clear the puck late in the third period ended up in Detroit's net late in the third period, giving Alex Burrows his second goal of the game.
The victory came on the heels of a 3-2 overtime victory Friday at Edmonton, which soothed some of the shame of the 5-2 collapse in Calgary on Wednesday.
The Wings appeared to have tired legs to start the game, especially after they got burned on the very first shift. Henrik Sedin won the opening face-off against Zetterberg. Daniel Sedin got a hold of the puck, took off, and fired a cross-ice pass that Alex Burrows wired glove-side on Howard, setting a record for fastest goal allowed by Detroit to start a game.
Howard denied Burrows on a fabulous chance just past the midway point, by which time Datsyuk already had made sure it was a tie game. Datsyuk sneaked up the right boards before cutting around Dan Hamhuis and firing a shot on net that went in off Abdelkader's skate, giving Abdelkader his second goal of the season.
Chances to score don't get much better than a lengthy two-man advantage, which the Wings got 1:16 of early in the second period. They squandered the first two-thirds, took a timeout, regrouped -- and then passed the puck around seven times before Niklas Kronwall took a shot that was blocked, ending with Burrows emerging from the penalty box just in time to pick it up and threaten on a breakaway.
Things went much better on the Wings' third power play. Datsyuk carried the puck across Vancouver's blue line and managed to hand off to Johan Franzen before being taken down by a defender. Franzen carried the puck around the net, sent it out front, Datsyuk got it back and found Zetterberg, who converted to end a nine-game goalless streak. Howard protected the 2-1 lead, challenging Jannik Hansen, who ended up settling for hitting a post.
Zetterberg scored his second goal on a one-timer at 1:20 of the third period, and Daniel Cleary found the net from the top of the circle five minutes later. That pretty effectively silenced the Canucks' pre-game chatter about avenging a 8-3 drubbing in Detroit last month. The Canucks got an 81-second two-man advantage late in the third period, but thanks to some especially aggressive penalty-killing by Datsyuk and Zetterberg.
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