DETROIT _ Early scoring and another outstanding performance from Jimmy Howard kept the Detroit Red Wings victorious.
They came away from Joe Louis Arena on Thursday with a 3-1 final over the Vancouver Canucks, winning for the second time in a row after a five-game skid. Howard made 36 saves.
Dylan Larkin and Brendan Smith made it 2-0 in the first period. Andreas Athanasiou was lost in the first period to a lower-body injury after a hit from Nikita Tryamkin. Tryamkin also face-planted Tyler Bertuzzi into the glass in the third period.
Steve Ott scored an insurance goal late in the third period when he tipped Jonathan Ericsson's shot. Ryan Miller earned applause after his belly-sliding glove save on Henrik Zetterberg in the waning minutes.
Larkin scored during the opening shift. Gustav Nyquist threw a backhand on net that Zetterberg took a shot at, and it was Zetterberg's rebound that Larkin popped behind Miller to earn a 1-0 lead after just 32 seconds. The momentum saw the Wings come at Miller steadily for several minutes. Howard was busy the second half of the period, especially during a Canucks power play that required three saves.
A Wings power play was nullified after four seconds because of a penalty on Riley Sheahan. The Canucks continued to have better puck possession, but the Wings still managed to double up in goals. Zetterberg won a faceoff against Brendan Gaunce, Niklas Kronwall pounced on the puck and got it to Smith, who wired a slap shot underneath the right arm of Miller.
After making 14 saves in the first period, Howard's heavy work load continued in the second, including a sprawling save on Brandon Sutter. A second power play came Detroit's way after Jack Skille tripped Zetterberg, but the Wings landed one shot on Miller. They landed few overall in the second period, while Howard made his 25th stop on a Skille slap shot with six minutes still left in the period.
Frans Nielsen was able to get into Vancouver's zone during a penalty kill and lifted a shot that bounced off Miller's helmet. The Wings were outshot, 25-16, after 40 minutes, but had the better scoring chances.
Daniel and Henrik Sedin teamed up to halve Detroit's lead three minutes into the third period, with Henrik Sedin feeding Daniel for a shot neither Howard, nor Kronwall, could have done anything to stop. Howard earned something of a standing ovation after he denied Sutter and then furiously scooped at the rebound before Derek Dorsett could get to it.
Nyquist almost made it 3-1 but his shot ricocheted off a post and the crossbar. Ott scored his first goal of the season at 15:14, redirecting Ericsson's slap shot from the left point.
