By Dave Hart
LocalSportsJournal.com
Red Wings 3, Canucks 1 – The Red Wings picked up a home victory over the struggling Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.
Detroit jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first period with goals from Dylan Larkin and Brendan Smith.
The Canucks responded, after a goalless second period, with a Daniel Sedin goal 3:14 into the third period to cut Vancouver’s deficit to a 2-1 margin.
The Red Wings increased their lead to 3-1 on a goal by Steve Ott with less than five minutes left in regulation.
Detroit’s goaltender Jimmy Howard picked up the win in net, stopping 36 of 37 shots.
Red Wings’ captain Henrik Zetterberg chipped in with two assists on the night.
Detroit, which is now 8-6-1 on the season, will travel to face first-place Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.
Record: 8-6-1 17 points
Tied for 2nd Place in Atlantic Division (8 points behind Montreal)
Tied for 4th Place in Eastern Conference (8 points behind Montreal)
2 points ahead of New Jersey for the final playoff spot
Magic # of pts to clinch a playoff berth: 138 pts
Magic # of pts to clinch a regular season Atlantic Division title: 145 pts
Magic # of pts to clinch a regular season Eastern Conference title: 145 pts
Next Game: 11/12/2016 @ Montreal Canadiens 7:00 p.m. @ Bell Centre
Stats: Goals- Dylan Larkin (5), Brendan Smith (2), Steve Ott (1). Assists- Henrik Zetterberg 2 (8), Gustav Nyquist (7), Niklas Kronwall (1), Jonathan Ericsson (4), Alexey Marchenko (4). Goalie- Jimmy Howard W (4-2-0) 36 saves on 37 shots.
