Howard, Red Wings win second straight against Vancouver

Photo by: Dave Reginek/Getty Images

Jimmy Howard had another good night to end a second positive game in net. He made 36 saves while the Red Wings did work on offense to win 3-1 against the Vancouver Canucks Thursday night at Joe Louis Arena. The win increased them to a two game winning streak as well as ending their losing streak on home ice.

The Red Wings ended a six-game losing streak on Election Day with a huge victory coming on the road in Philadelphia. Howard in his second straight start for Detroit came up big in net that allowed them to outlast the Flyers in a 3-2 win. Coming back to home ice meant that the squad had to also break a losing streak at home taking on Vancouver for the first time this season. Howard got his third straight appearance between the pipes in the hopes that his performance from Tuesday rolled into another at home.

In terms of the offense in front of them, they got to work quickly working their way through the Canucks with considerable easy. A shot in front of Miller was hit again by captain Henrik Zetterberg before a rebound by Dylan Larkin gave him the opening goal and fifth this season. It came 32 seconds into the period which allowed them to set the pace over the Canucks who were showing struggle early on.

After some energy gained during an elapse of time, Vancouver got their act together surpassing the Red Wings on shots to the net taking more opportunities with the puck. Howard saw 13 shots from them denying every scoring chance that came into the Detroit zone. With two minutes left, the Red Wings hunted for a chance to increase the margin before the period came to a close.

Defenseman Brendan Smith got the message delivering a drive right at Canucks goaltender Ryan Miller where the puck bounced off the arm of the veteran net minder before trailing into the net for a 2-0 Detroit lead. Though they were outshot 13-8, the Red Wings were again dominant on the faceoff winning 62 percent from the dot.

The Canucks opened the second with another surge of shots towards Howard but came up empty. They fired off five shots in the first couple of minutes with Detroit still trailing. Though they took five shots through 15 minutes, the goaltending of Howard and the two goal lead allowed Detroit to relax their stance on ice and keep things alive for a shutout opportunity to live on for Howard. The power plays were being racked up by the Red Wings but the man advantages still found no way to be converted into goals for the team.

The same was said for Vancouver as they gained a final power play in the last minutes of the period in their attempts to get on the board. The Red Wings played keep away with the puck sending the puck deep into their zone with a shorthanded play occurring during the penalty. Despite not getting a shot in net, they knocked out the period and a majority of the power play ending 40 minutes.

The third was Vancouver’s last chance to get something going letting their sticks do the talking. In the fourth minute of play, the Canucks had a loose puck flying around Howard but flew behind the net instead. They later took another chance with the Sedin twins getting together for an opportunity. The Canuck captain sent a pass to his brother Daniel that allowed him to score the goal that killed Howard’s shutout and made the game a one goal margin.

Half of the period was in the books with Detroit showing strength on both sides of the puck but not on shots to the net. Vancouver continued to lead on the mark but the Red Wings showed times where they were ready to gain back the two-goal gap and hold on to win. Detroit picked up their fourth power play of the night but once again made very little action to score one while up a man.

Photo by: Dave Reginek/Getty Images

Despite the troubles, Detroit had everything going right on even strength answering minutes later. A redirect off the shot of Jonathan Ericsson gave NHL veteran Steve Ott his first goal with the Red Wings with four minutes left on the clock. Things looked very good for Detroit as they had just 3:18 left to play on the night with the second game in a row on the line.

The Canucks made a move to pull Miller from the net but as Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg got the puck, Miller scrambled back in time to a make a baseball like glove save on him. “I think I put it in a good spot for him but it’ll probably make the highlights for sure,” Zetterberg said to reporters about the play.

Despite the amazing stop, Miller’s team was playing out the rest of the game pulling him once again. The Red Wings almost got close a second time but in the end, time ran out with Detroit getting an important victory. “When I get in there, I just want to give our team a chance to win,” said Howard to Fox Sports Detroit reporter Trevor Thompson.

The victory for the team was an important one but it gets difficult for them quickly as the Red Wings go off to Montreal to take on the Canadiens Saturday night.