FINAL: Detroit Red Wings 6, Vancouver Canucks 1
The game started feisty with a fast pace, the two teams playing long stretches without a whistle.
Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin turned on the jets and outraced Canucks defenceman Luke Schenn and forward Elias Pettersson to score five-hole on a breakaway at 10:58 against goalie Collin Delia. That gave Detroit a 1-0 lead in the 1st period as they looked to sweep a home-and-home vs Vancouver; the Red Wings having won 5-2 on Saturday night at Little Caesars Arena.
Larkin would score again, this time on the power play with :35-seconds remaining in the 1st period. It was his 4th goal in the last four periods against Vancouver and his 20th on the season.
The Canucks came in killing off just 65.8% of opposing power plays this season, easily worst in the NHL.
Detroit netminder Ville Husso made a couple of tough stops at the other end and the Canucks rang one off the post.
2-0 Detroit after one.
Canucks Goal Scorer:
2nd Period
2-1 Red Wings – Even Strength – Sheldon Dries (7) from Conor Garland and Ethan Bear, 1:31
Dries converted a one-handed tap-in along the left post off a nice cross crease feed from Garland.
— Detroit would score next: Robby Fabbri with his 5th of the season at 8:09.
— The Canucks earned two power plays late in the second period but failed to click. They came close on a number of occasions but didn’t finish.
— The game turned into an embarrassment. The Red Wings kept adding goals. Rogers Arena turned into a morgue as Detroit ran up the score.
No heart in this one for the BC Boys.
Vancouver actually earned a penalty shot in the final minute of the game when Detroit goalie Husso was charged with delay-of-game for pulling the net away from its moorings. Phil Di Giuseppe failed. Quinn Hughes had failed in the previous game against Husso, who’s now 2-for-2 in his NHL career in stopping penalty shots.
— Shots finished 30-23 in favour of the Canucks. Power plays: Detroit 1-for-1, Vancouver 0-for-4.
The Canucks host the New York Rangers on Wednesday and the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night. They then hit the road for two.
When the season began, did you really think the Canucks would be playing out the string in February? That’s where they stand.
