Canucks at Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings suffered through a gauntlet of Eastern Conference heavyweights earlier in the week without a win and seek to end the string when they host the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday night. The Red Wings dropped games against Tampa Bay and Toronto before coughing up a late lead in a 5-4 overtime setback against Washington at home Friday.
“We did a lot of good things again,” Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg told reporters after Alex Ovechkin’s overtime power-play goal Friday. “We’ve got to stay the course here. We’ve lost three in a row, but I can’t really say we’ve been playing bad. We’ve got to keep our heads high and keep working on things.” The Red Wings won’t have it easy with the Canucks, who rallied to knock off Buffalo 4-2 on Friday to improve to 2-1-0 on their five-game road swing. “We were assertive tonight,” Vancouver defenseman Michael Del Zotto told Sportsnet afterward. “We had a lot of shifts (where) we were in their zone for 45 seconds or a minute. When you’re in there for sustained periods, you know it’s going to lead to scoring chances and, of course, goals.” Forward Derek Dorsett had two goals to push his team-leading total to four in seven games after scoring six combined in the previous two seasons.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, TVA, Sportsnet, Sportsnet 360 (Vancouver), FSN Detroit
ABOUT THE CANUCKS (3-3-1): Former first-round pick Jake Virtanen was placed on a line with veterans Henrik and Daniel Sedin against Buffalo and he responded with his first point of the season on an assist. “I think it was his best game,” Vancouver coach Travis Green told Sportsnet of Virtanen. “I think he got some energy off playing with Hank and Danny. You know when you play with them it’s a pretty good opportunity. Somebody has to stick there.” The Sedins, who have combined for more than 2,000 career points, each have only three in the early going and the Vancouver power play has struggled (4-for-35).
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (4-3-1): Tomas Tatar has lifted his level of play the last two games with three goals and fellow forward Darren Helm scored for the first time this season in Friday’s setback. Defenseman Mike Green tops the team with 10 points (nine on assists) while Zetterberg and fellow forward Dylan Larkin are next with nine apiece and Anthony Mantha has seven, but the right wing has been scoreless with a minus-5 rating over the last three games. Forward Andreas Athanasiou was finally signed to a one-year contract Friday, but it will take him up to a week to acquire a work visa.
OVERTIME
1. Canucks C Bo Horvat leads the team with 21 shots and owns three goals while winning 55.3 percent of his faceoffs.
2. The Red Wings cleared cap space for Athanasiou's contract by trading C Riley Sheahan to Pittsburgh in exchange for F Scott Wilson.
3. Vancouver D Erik Gudbranson is expected back in the lineup after serving a one-game suspension for an illegal hit.