Wings fend off Canucks’ late push
VANCOUVER — Tomas Tatar scored the go-ahead goal late in the third as the Detroit Red Wings edged the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 on Monday.
Martin Frk and Darren Helm also score for Detroit (8-7-1), which has won four of its last five following a six-game losing streak.
Jimmy Howard made 26 saves for the Red Wings after Petr Mrazek’s 36-save shutout in Edmonton the night prior.
Daniel Sedin and Michael Del Zotto scored for Vancouver (7-5-2), which played its final game of a five-game home stand (2-2-1).
Jacob Markstrom made 26 saves in his fourth straight start for the Canucks.
Tatar scored the winner with 1:14 left shortly after a face-off. A deflected puck went right to him and he made no mistake with a wrist shot over Markstrom’s right shoulder for his 200th career point.
Despite playing its second game in as many nights, Detroit came out more aggressive and opened the scoring less than five minutes in on a rush. A streaking Justin Abdelkader swatted his rebound off the back boards to Frans Nielsen, whose shot Markstrom kicked out right to Helm for the put-back.
The Canucks had a chance to tie it with Abdelkader off for interference later in the first, but Henrik Sedin missed on a wide open net. It was only the fifth shot on goal this season for the struggling captain.
Sedin got another chance in the second when Jake Virtanen sprung him for a breakaway, but Sedin put the puck squarely on Howard’s jersey logo.
The Red Wings went up 2-0 at 15:15 on the power play with a goal that had Canuck fans groaning. Frk’s slapshot through traffic rebounded to Canucks defenceman Chris Tanev, who appeared to miscalculate a clearing attempt and shovelled the puck right into his own net. Frk was credited with the goal.
The Canucks rallied to tie it in the third with goals 2:14 apart. First Daniel Sedin battled for a loose puck in the Detroit crease before backhanding it in to make it 2-1 at seven minutes in. Then Bo Horvat found Del Zotto in the slot and the defenceman wristed the puck over Howard’s shoulder, as the crowd erupted. It was Sedin’s first goal in seven games and Del Zotto’s first of the year.
Leafs 4, Knights 3 (SO)
TORONTO — Mitch Marner looked at two things as he took his turn in the shootout. First, he had to get the puck under control as it skidded and bounced on the choppy Air Canada Centre ice. Then he peered into the face of Golden Knights goaltender Maxime Lagace.
Marner skated out wide before cutting in toward the net, getting Lagace to commit with a deke before tucking the puck into the net to lead the Maple Leafs in a 4-3 victory over Vegas on Monday night after Toronto blew a twogoal lead.
“Just trying to take a look at the puck and calm it down then look at the goalie to go eye-to-eye and see what he’s going to react to,” said Marner on his shootout approach. “It stayed on my stick fortunately and didn’t bounce away.”
Nazem Kadri had a pair of goals in regulation time for Toronto (9-7-0) and James van Riemsdyk also scored as the Maple Leafs built a 3-1 lead by the first intermission.
Kadri has confidence in Marner’s shootout abilities, but he also noticed that the ice had been chewed up from the third period and the back-and-forth of threeon-three overtime.
“He’s pretty money. He’s got great hands, he can score, skill player, so he’s kinda made for that,” said Kadri. “I saw the puck rolling on him a little bit to begin with and I got a little nervous for him but he stayed pretty composed and he made it look effortless.”
Frederik Andersen made 22 saves for the win, redeeming himself after allowing a disappointing goal to Deryk Engelland in the third period. James Neal and Reilly Smith also found the back of the net for Vegas (9-4-1). Lagace turned aside 25 shots.
The win was a much-needed boost for a Maple Leafs team that had dropped five of its past six games — including three losses on a four-game road trip — after starting the year with a 7-1 record.
“Obviously, [giving up a lead] is not something we want to do later down the road, but right now it’s a character win to come back and do that,” said Marner, who also noted that Andersen stopped all three skaters he faced in the shootout. “We’re happy about this win and now it’s time to build and get ready for the next one.”
Kadri opened scoring early in the first on a power play, snapping in a rebound from the slot. Vegas replied less than a minute LATER with a fluky goal. A long shot in deflected off Neal’s skate as he tussled with a Leafs defender and bounced in past Andersen.
Van Riemsdyk restored Toronto’s lead on the power play near the midway point of the first, but Auston Matthews did all the heavy lifting on the play.