Vancouver Canucks shows Detroit Red Wings who’s the Boss in the Western Conference
Daniel Sedin showed everyone why he’s the league leader in points, scoring twice against the second placed Red Wings at the sold-out Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan, defeating Detroit by 2-1, on Wednesday night.
Canucks’ goalie, Roberto Lunongo’s, near shutout with 39 saves, moved Vancouver a lot closer to securing home-ice advantage during the playoffs.
Jimmy Howard failed to stop Sedin’s two goals, still making 31 saves as he remained stick-less during the third period.
"I thought we were better than them in the first and they were better than us in the second," Detroit Coach Mike Babcock said. "In the third, we had every opportunity. It was a good hockey game."
Detroit had double the opportunities Vancouver had during the first period, but both teams remained scoreless throughout.
Daniel Sedin fired the opening and final goal of the second period, leading his team to the final with a 1-0 lead.
Daniel shot his 40th goal of the season, off his brother Henrik’s second assist, nearly midway through the third during a power-play sponsored by Patrick Eaves.
He took advantage of Howard’s loss of stick from going post to post and shot it from atop the right circle neatly through his legs and into the net.
"I thought in the second and third we took over and played a heck of a game," Daniel said.
He looked extremely joyful and anxious to meet up with his newly born daughter who he had to leave in order to join his team three days back.
Jiri Hudler lessened the gap by one during a power play with a little less than nine minutes remaining, but they could breakdown Luongo after that.
Had they not lost to Nashville and Phoenix, Canucks would have been undefeated throughout the month.
They’ve won nine of their past 11 games, moving even further from Detroit with 105 points.
Canucks regained its valuable defenseman, Kevin Bieska, after he missed 15 games due to a broken foot when trying to block a shot.
Vancouver has three games remaining on its four-game road trip, the next at Atlanta where they meet Thrashers on Friday.
They return home for the last game of the month to host Los Angeles Kings.
Detroit Red Wings extend its losing streak to three, now falling behind Washington with 95 points for third position in the NHL. It is missing veteran goaltender, Chris Osgood, who’s recently been placed on injured reserve due to complications he’s facing
after having a hernia surgery.
He isn’t expected to join them anytime soon, but the earlier he could, the better it would be for Detroit in the long run.
They’ll face off with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, on schedule with their five-game road trip to wrap of the month.
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