Canucks keep rolling with win over Wings
Posted December 22, 2011 12:39 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
THE CANADIAN PRESS
VANCOUVER — Alex Burrows scored what proved to be the winner in the first period Wednesday as the Vancouver Canucks beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-2 in a battle of two of the NHL’s hottest teams.
Burrows, who has been lighting it up with the Sedin twins in recent games, gave the Canucks a 3-1 lead with an artful tip of a hard pass to the goalmouth by Daniel Sedin.
It was Burrows’ fourth goal in as many games and tied Daniel Sedin for the team lead with 13.
Chris Higgins and Cody Hodgson scored 21 seconds apart earlier in the period to give Vancouver a 2-0 advantage, prompting Detroit coach Mike Babcock to call a time out.
Alex Edler completed the attack for Vancouver, which got a 38-save effort from goalie Roberto Luongo.
Todd Bertuzzi and Drew Miller scored for Detroit.
Vancouver (21-11-2) won its third straight game and 12th in 15 starts to close to within a point of Northwest Division-leading Minnesota Wild.
The Red Wings (21-11-1), who are chasing the Chicago Blackhawks in the Central Division, lost for only the second time in seven games.
Both clubs have been climbing the Western Conference standings after sluggish starts to their season.
Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard, who made 25 saves in a 2-0 home win over the Canucks on Oct. 13, trailed by that score midway through the first period.
Higgins scored his second goal in three games and 10th of the season when he buried Mason Raymond’s rebound to give the Canucks a 1-0 lead.
Raymond unleashed a hard shot when he was sent in alone by Kevin Bieksa’s long pass down the side boards.
Hodgson doubled Vancouver’s lead 21 seconds later after a Detroit turnover in the neutral zone. He skated Jannik Hansen’s pass into the slot and banged the puck behind Howard.
Bertuzzi drew the Red Wings to within a goal when a prone Luongo appeared to lose the puck in a scramble in his crease and the former Canuck jammed it home to make it 2-1.
Burrows restored the two-goal advantage with his back-to-the-net tip-in to give Vancouver a 3-1 lead at the first intermission.
Howard kept it a two-goal game early in the middle period when he went down to foil Hansen in close when the speedy right-winger found himself on the end of a three-way passing play.
Later in the period, Howard stopped Higgins twice on the same rush and turned aside Sami Salo’s point shot as Vancouver continued to have the better scoring chances.
However, it was the Red Wings who drew to within a goal entering the third period after a long third-line shift in the Canuck zone.
Miller, with his fifth goal in six games, tipped a shot by a falling Darren Helm over Luongo after Danny Cleary did most of the work in the corner.
Niklas Kronwall almost tied it near the end of the second period when he blasted a rebound from the deep slot into Luongo’s pads.
Edler provided some insurance early in the third period by depositing Hansen’s rebound behind Howard while the Canucks were shorthanded to make it 4-2.
Hansen grabbed a loose puck in the neutral zone and drove hard to the net, knocking Howard to the ice after he made the initial save.
Canuck Ryan Kesler was in the penalty box for roughing after challenging Kronwall who left his feet to deliver a hard hit to the Canuck centre along the boards.
Luongo preserved the lead late in the game by going down to get a pad on Helm’s close-in chance and snaring Pavel Datsyuk’s backhand with his glove.
NOTES: The two clubs have appeared three of the last four Stanley Cup finals … Andrew Ebbett returned to the Vancouver lineup for the first time since suffering a foot fracture on Nov. 10 … minor league call-up Mark Mancari sat out … the Canucks were again without their third defensive pairing of Aaron Rome (thumb) and Keith Ballard (back) … Andrew Alberts and Alexander Sulzer continued to fill in on the Vancouver blue-line … the Wings continue their road trip Thursday in Calgary.
