Vanek lifts Red Wings past Canadiens, 1-0
The Detroit Red Wings could move winger Thomas Vanek by the March 1 trade deadline if their postseason streak appears to be doomed. In the meantime, Vanek is putting together a nice season.
Vanek, 32, increased his potential appeal Monday, scoring late in the second period to help Detroit to a 1-0 victory against the Montreal Canadiens at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
Vanek leads the Red Wings with 12 goals, and his $2.6 million, one-year contract expires after this season. Even though Vanek knows he could go, he wants to stay.
“Obviously, I understand the business side of it,” he acknowledged.
Vanek was traded twice in the 2013-14 season, taking him and his expiring contract from Buffalo to the New York Islanders to Montreal in fewer than five months.
He was searching for stability that following summer as a free agent and thought he had it with a $19.5 million, three-year contract in Minnesota, but the Wild bought out the final season of his deal in June.
After a disappointing season with just 41 points in 73 games in Minnesota, he has been a pleasant surprise in Detroit by averaging almost a point per game.
“I hope we can put some wins together and stay here,” said Vanek, who has 328 career goals.
“But if I’m moving, I’m getting pretty good at that, too.”
The Red Wings have been moving down in the standings since they started the season 6-2, raising doubts about a 26th consecutive postseason appearance.
But Detroit rallied from a two-goal deficit to beat the Penguins, 6-3, Saturday night and shut out the Atlantic Division-leading Canadiens, who had won five of seven games.
The Canadiens will face the Penguins Wednesday night in Montreal.
Other games
Lightning 2, Kings 1: Brian Boyle scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period, and Tampa Bay opened a six-game road trip with a victory against Los Angeles. Kings captain Anze Kopitar did not play due to an illness. All-Star defenseman Victor Hedman of Tampa Bay also sat out of the game for an unknown reason.
Sharks 5, Jets 2: Joel Ward scored a short-handed goal and took a hard hit to assist on Timo Meier’s goal, helping host San Jose beat Winnipeg for just its third win in the past eight games.
Sabres 4, Stars 1: Jack Eichel scored two goals as host Buffalo beat Dallas. Tyler Ennis scored 19 seconds into the first period in his return after missing 30 games with a groin injury.
Islanders 4, Bruins 0: Nikolay Kulemin scored two of New York’s three second-period goals, Thomas Greiss made 32 saves for his first shutout this season and the visiting Islanders rolled to victory against Boston.