D. Sedin's Double Gives Canucks Win Over Red Wings
DETROIT -- Daniel Sedin scored twice and Roberto Luongo made 39 saves, leading the Vancouver Canucks to a 2-1 win against the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday.
The Western Conference-leading Canucks have won eight of nine and have built a 10-point lead over second-place Detroit with eight games left in the regular season. The Red Wings, who sit atop the Central Division, are in an 0-2-1 slump and are 4-4-3 this month.
Sedin, the NHL scoring leader with 95 points, has at least one in nine straight games.
He scored off Detroit defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom's skate at 6:31 of the second period, giving Vancouver a two-goal lead with a power-play one-timer against stickless goalie Jimmy Howard.
Jiri Hudler's power-play goal off a rebound with 8:22 left pulled the Red Wings within a goal.
Howard made 31 saves.
Sedin clearly doesn't need luck to score, but he was fortunate on both of his goals.
He pushed the puck across the front of the crease and it caromed off Lidstrom's left skate and slid between Howard's pads in the first period. Howard had no shot to stop Sedin's second goal -- a sharp shot from the top of the right circle - because the goalie lost his stick going from post to post.
Hudler took advantage in his return after missing three games because of an upper body injury. He made it 2-1 when he banged in a loose puck that Luongo couldn't control.
Notes
The Red Wings put G Chris Osgood on the injured list because of a groin injury and hope he will be able to play during the last weekend of the regular season. ... Detroit recalled G Joey MacDonald from Grand Rapids (AHL) to back up Howard. ... Canucks D Kevin Bieksa played after missing 15 games with a broken foot from a blocked shot. ... Former Red Wings forward Mikael Samuelsson was scratched by the Canucks because of injuries to his groin and hip. ... Detroit was without LW Pavel Datsyuk and RW Johan Franzen because of lower body injuries. RW Todd Bertuzzi sat out with a back injury.
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