Abdelkader scores in OT to lift Wings over Canucks
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Justin Abdelkader's power-play goal at 3:31 of overtime gave the Detroit Red Wings a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night.
Abdelkader put in Henrik Zetterberg's pass across the slot. Detroit's power play came 47 seconds into the extra session as Brandon Sutter was called for interference while trying to put the Wings offside.
The Red Wings (25-26-10) posted their third win in four games. The Canucks (26-30-6 or 26-29-7) suffered their 10th loss in 14 games.
Frans Nielsen scored Detroit's other two goals, while Markus Granlund and Reid Boucher tallied for the Canucks.
Red Wings goaltender Petr Mrazek and Canucks counterpart Ryan Miller both posted 25 saves. Detroit outshot the Canucks 28-27.
Both teams were sloppy at times, but still managed to generate some dangerous chances and keep fans entertained for much of the night.
Nielsen opened the scoring 4:36 into the game as he converted a give-and-go with Andreas Athanasiou. The shot went in off the post behind Miller.
Nielsen notched his second goal of the night on a power play at 11:41 of the second, He put in a shot from the slot after being left all alone in front of Vancouver's net. Henrik Zetterberg fed him the puck from the boards.
The Canucks looked disoriented after Alex Burrows' trade to Ottawa on Monday disrupted their line combinations. Vancouver was also hampered by the absence of veteran winger Jannik Hansen, who was a healthy scratch and traded to the San Jose Sharks during the game.
Granlund put the Canucks on the scoreboard at 1:55 of the second as he fired in Daniel Sedin's shot from the corner. Boucher created a 2-2 tie with 2:46 left in regulation time as he took the puck away from Niklas Kronwall near the net, cut under the left face-off circle and deked Mrazek.
NOTES: The Wings traded C Steve Ott, a healthy scratch, to Montreal during the game for a 2018 sixth-round draft choice. ... Earlier Tuesday, the Red Wings traded D Brendan Smith to the New York Rangers for a third-round draft pick in 2017 and a second-round pick in 2018. ... The Canucks returned D Jordan Subban to AHL Utica after players afflicted with symptoms of the mumps showed improvement. D Troy Stecher returned to Vancouver's lineup after missing Saturday's loss to San Jose due to the mumps. He was the lone Canuck who had a confirmed case. F Markus Granlund also returned to Vancouver's lineup after missing the game against San Jose due to mumps-like symptoms. ... Canucks D Nikita Tryamkin, who also displayed symptoms of the mumps, missed his second straight game.