Red Wings-Canucks quick take: Detroit survives Vancouver, wins 3-2 in OT

The Detroit Red Wings attempted to earn their 6th straight win by battling the revamped Vancouver Canucks on Sunday night. Detroit was playing its 2nd game in 21 hours and its 3rd game in 4 nights, so no one was expecting an on-ice Picasso…

And on Sunday night, the Red Wings did not paint anything less than a Rorschach print, but it was pretty ugly enough to count as the team’s 6th win in a row and 3rd in 4 nights. Detroit prevailed 3-2 in overtime over the Canucks, with Alex DeBrincat (2) and Ben Chiarot scoring, Alex Lyon stopping 25 of 27 shots, and DeBrincat earning the winner from Raymond and Seider at 4:17 of overtime.

In pregame warmups: Alex Lyon led the Wings onto the ice at Rogers Arena, and FanDuel Sports Network Detroit’s Trevor Thompson and Danny DeKeyser reported that Patrick Kane would return at the expense of Dominik Shine:

The Canucks iced a new set of lines and defensive pairings, per Sportsnet 650’s Brendan Batchelor:

But Quinn Hughes was a late scratch…

There is this, too:

And the Red Wings iced the following lineup:

Here are the starters and scratches:

In the 1st period, Detroit started Lucas Raymond, Dylan Larkin and Marco Kasper opposite Drew O’Connor, Pius Suter and Kiefer Sherwood; Simon Edvinsson and Albert Johansson opposed Marcus Pettersson and Tyler Myers; Alex Lyon started opposite Kevin Lankinen.

Larkin tied up the faceoff but Sherwood chipped and chased, Raymond flicked to Kasper and Larkin rimmed the puck around the back of the net, Kasper and Raymond were picked off and Vancouver broke out…And Alex Lyon had to make a stop on Pettersson 30 seconds in.

Detroit changed lines as Vancouver recoiled at center, but Chiarot and Seider fed Tarasenko on the left wing side, and he dropped a lateral pass to DeBrincat, whose shot was deflected wide of the goal and out of play.

55 seconds into the 1st, the Wings won a deep offensive zone faceoff, Seider walked the line and fired into a mass of blue-jersey-wearing bodies, and Soderblom, Berggren and Rasmussen worked together to cycle…

But instead, Filip Hronek sprung Brock Boeser for a mini-breakaway off a line change, and Lyon made a great glove stop to keep the game even.

1:35 into the 1st, Detroit tied up the next faceoff, but Vancouver jabbed a puck into Lyon, and as Garland circled, Holl and Gustafsson cleared the defensive zone;

Chytil was blocked by Gustafsson on the next rush, and it was a quick shift for the Veleno line, ending the 4-line rotation at 2:20 of the 1st period.

As play continued, the Canucks were really setting up a good forecheck in the Wings’ end, and Detroit looked a little slow off the bat, but they were getting their sea legs some 3:45 into the 1st.

FYI:

Lyon made another good stop at 4:10 off a ripper from the point, but Kiefer Sherwood rimmed the puck back to the point, Elias Pettersson (the defenseman) sent a shot in on Lyon at 4:19 and Pius Suter tipped the point shot with a screening Drew O’Connor in front of Lyon.

Suter scored from Pettersson (the defenseman) and Sherwood at 4:19 of the 1st period.

The Wings iced the Veleno line on the bump-up shift–with Kane on the right wing–and the Wings got hemmed in their own zone again, and did not look sharp at all as Vancouver crashed, banged, held, interfered, and were afforded every luxury by the referees to hold up the Wings.

The Larkin line came out and had no better effort in terms of battling for the puck, with Vancouver cycling again and a point shot from Hronek tipped by Lyon out of play at 5:39.

Chytil shanked a shot over Lyon but the puck went wide of the goal, Detroit raced through the middle of the ice, and Alex DeBrincat used Andrew Copp’s rush against Tyler Myers as a bit of a screen, and DeBrincat ripped a slick little wrister through Lankinen’s blocker to tie the game 1-1 at 6:08 of the 1st.

DeBrincat scored from Copp at 6:08. 1-1.

The Canucks continued to pressure the Red Wings with heavy body contact and a fair amount of interference, and Alex Lyon had to stop a good shot by Kiefer Sherwood at 7:04, ushering the first TV timeout.

As play resumed, the fourth line had a short shift together, and Vancouver came blazing into the Wings’ end, but Lyon tipped a puck wide at 8:05, and Hronek held the line, Suter got ANOTHER chance on Lyon, and he stopped the puck well, off a turnover by Kasper and Larkin at the lip of the crease…

Things just felt “off” as the period progressed, and while it was understandable that the Canucks were going to feel adrenaline thanks to their trade acquisitions, the Wings were too passive for my liking, affording Vancouver slot chances and jam-in opportunities that Lyon had to stifle.

That being said, Detroit did a good job of cycling when they did get offensive zone opportunities, and Rasmussen, Soderblom and Berggren had a hell of a shift 9-and-a-half minutes through the 1st period, grinding down Vancouver.

Kane was being eased back into the lineup with Veleno and Fischer, and there were some hiccups…

Kasper got a long from-the-point shot off on Lankinen, ushering in a TV timeout, at 10:57…

Lyon made a really nice blocker stop on Chytil shortly thereafter…And DeBrincat chugged up the Canucks’ gut and fired a nice shot in on Lankinen, who made a good save;

Veleno and Kane did have some chemistry, but the rust on Kane showed;

Christian Fischer stayed out long on a line change and ended up getting a good chance on Lankinen as well at 14:08, generating a scoring chance off a rim-around by Justin Holl;

Raymond and Larkin connected for a good chance about 20 seconds later, and Marco Kasper pissed off Filip Hronek at the hash marks, showing no concern for Hronek’s feelings…

A turnover by Lyon yielded a Brock Boeser shot from the point that Lyon had to expertly find in traffic, and it was impressive to see Lyon make the stop before the Canucks tried to rough up Seider and Chiarot, who were having none of it…

Lyon made a TREMENDOUS stop on Hoglander at 14:25, and Vancouver was leading in shots 9-5 at the time;

Kane fed Fischer in the slot looking for a net-front tip, but the Canucks dodged a bullet and cleared the zone on a good shift from Holl and Gustafsson;

Garland tried to feed a teammate with a slick lateral pass, but Vancouver was called for a hand pass as Chytil tapped the puck…

Again, Suter generated a fine scoring chance on Lyon that was stopped with 3:45 remaining in the 1st;

Seider hit the GOALPOST off a great exchange from Raymond and Larkin tight in on Lankinen, and thereafter, DeBrincat wrapped the puck around the goal, but was stifled by Lankinen…

Tarasenko’s luck wasn’t changing, however, as he took a slot pass and fired a puck into a Canucks defenseman instead of through the Canuck D and past Lankinen…

Lyon squeezed a point shot off a faceoff loss with 2:07 left…

Again, Berggren, Rasmussen and Soderblom had a good shift, and when Berggren was taken down by Forbort, who tried to challenge Berggren, to no avail, Detroit got its first power play at 18:28.

On the power play, Detroit cycled along the perimeter off a faceoff win, Seider, DeBrincat, Kane and Larkin worked together to generate a Larkin chance that Blueger was able to block in lieu of his goaltender…

Raymond, DeBrincat, Kane and Seider had to regroup at center ice, Larkin dropped at center for Raymond and Kane, and Gustafsson held the line, but Vancouver cleared the zone to end the period.

In the 2nd period, Detroit won the opening faceoff, and Gustafsson fed Berggren, up he went with Copp, and Tarasenko could not stuff the puck in the final 28 of the PP…

Vancouver cleared their zone and Gustafsson carried the puck to center as the PP expired, and Larkin ripped a shot that slithered wide of the goal on the left wing side….

Seider retained possession and got a really great scoring chance off on Lankinen, but he was toed away;

As the Copp line succeeded the Larkin line, Copp fired a long bomb in on the Canucks’ goalie, and he was denied;

Detroit was starting to dominate possession and control, at least over the course of the first 2 minutes, and that was a welcome change from the 1st period, which pretty much belonged to Vancouver.

Again, the Berggren-Rasmussen-Soderblom line looked excellent, physical and fresh even on a back-to-back night;

Then Dylan Larkin was tripped by Chytil, resulting in a Canucks cycle and desperation clear for an icing, because Chytil got away with the trip.

On the icing faceoff, Elias Pettersson won the draw from Larkin, but Kasper pushed the puck away and out of the zone, affording Detroit a needed change;

As play continued, Soderblom, Berggren and Rasmussen cycled the puck back to Ben Chiarot, who found the back of the net via a simple point shot that defeated Kevin Lankinen.

The goal read Chiarot from Berggren and Soderblom at 5:54 of the 2nd. Detroit led 2-1.

On the bump-up shift, Larkin generated a solid scoring chance, but he was stopped in tight, and play sort of “settled in” for the next 2 minutes;

Lyon then made a couple of strong stops as the Canucks pressed the Wings at 7:45;

Tyler Myers wrapped his arm around Patrick Kane’s neck at 8:45, helping the Canucks keep the puck in the offensive zone, but that little play wasn’t seen by the referees;

Vancouver was pushing back, literally and figuratively, and Sherwood was stopped by Lyon at 9:28, with the Wings taking some offense to the fact that O’Connor bumped into Lyon after the net had been dislodged;

Lyon then made a slick stick play to stifle what would have been a mini-breakaway for Pettersson behind Chiarot in Detroit’s slot;

Nils Hoglander also got a good chance off as Lyon swum in the Wings’ crease, losing and regaining his stick, but Lyon made a strong stop at 10:45, and the Canucks were stifled again;

Lyon then stopped Conor Garland twice at 12:00, as the Rasmussen line got hemmed in long and late on a shift, and Rasmussen made a masterful block to help his goaltender…

Vancouver was dominant, bluntly, and Detroit looked like it had grown tired, but Lyon was there.

Detroit was at least stifling the most dangerous of Vancouver’s intentions, however, so they were giving Lyon an opportunity to steal the game.

When the Chytil line got the Wings out on a 1:40 shift, Detroit managed to slowly but surely push the puck into Vancouver’s end, letting the Wings change lines with about 4:30 left in the period;

Holl fell over a teammate and Boeser raced in 3 on 1 for Vancouver, but Boeser chose to hold onto the puck and fire a shot in on Lyon, and he missed the net, in no small part thanks to Rasmussen closing the gap between Boeser and his teammates.

With about 2:15 left, Raymond, Kasper and Larkin got a good forecheck going, and they hemmed Vancouver into their own end at least, with Kasper displaying some great physicality;

Off an icing with 1:26 left, Copp won the faceoff, Edvinsson cleared the zone, and the Wings rushed into the offensive zone, and when Edvinsson turned the puck over, he pushed O’Connor away from the Wings’ goal, the Canucks cycled, and Pettersson sent a wild shot wide of the goal and out of play…

With 23.6 left to kill off, so to speak, Larkin tied up a draw, Vancouver was pushed out by Chiarot, and Kane charged to the front of the net, forcing Lankinen to make a stop with 10.3 left in the period.

Detroit lost the last faceoff but ended the period up 2-1 despite a 19-12 shot deficit.

In the 3rd period, Detroit began with the Larkin line on the ice, with Edvinsson and Johansson, and Kasper’s keep-in was unable to restrict the Canucks from cycling down into Detroit’s zone, but Kaper poked a puck free and Raymond was tied up by Myers, preventing him from charging away with a loose puck;

The Copp line took to the ice with Seider and Chiarot, and instead of getting an offensive chance, Garland fired a bomb wide of Lyon;

Tarasenko got bumped into Lankinen, and the Canucks had a hissy fit though Tarasenko was bumped into the Canucks’ goalie by their own defenseman;

Boeser centered for Pettersson and Seider would not allow that to happen;

Holl, Gustafsson, and the Rasmussen line more or less held their own as the Canucks cycled in Detroit’s zone;

And Kane, Veleno and Fischer worked with Edvinsson and Johansson, affording the Canucks a lot of zone time and a shot by Hronek that was stopped by Lyon, as was the rebound, at 3:15.

Larkin lost another faceoff uncharacteristically, but Detroit was dogged and cleared the zone once, Lyon stopped Hronek on a walk-in-and-shoot play, and LYON MADE TWO TREMENDOUS STOPS AS ELIAS AND THEN MARCUS PETTERSSON GOT TIGHT AND LONG SHOTS OFF, RESPECTIVELY.

As play continued, Detroit looked pretty gassed, honestly, and Lyon was doing the game-keeping, not just the goal-keeping.

Out-shot 23-13 at 5:40, at least the Canucks were struggling to connect and convert, missing fit and finish.

Erik Gustafsson hit the outside of the goalpost at 6:30, and he got another from-the-blueline chance that was blocked by Tyler Myers;

Tarasenko and DeBrincat worked a slick little lateral into a shot that Copp forced Lankinen to stop, and when the Canucks responded, Copp cleared the puck out of Detroit’s end;

It was interesting to see Edvinsson and Johansson choosing to pass pucks back to Lyon to relieve pressure at times, but it worked as Lyon was active and energetic;

Kasper, Larkin and Raymond were really checked heavily by Vancouver, and as tired as Detroit was playing their 3rd game in 4 nights, it was kind of hard to watch the Wings play the rope-a-dope.

Sadly, Vancouver tied the game as Filip Chytil scored off a weird little exchange where the Wings surrendered the puck in the neutral zone, Ben Chiarot was struggling to stop Conor Garland, who lost his stick, and Seider could not block Chytil skating toward the front of the net, where he tucked the puck through Lyon’s arm and behind the Red Wings’ goaltender.

Vancouver scored the 2-2 goal at 10:46. Chytil, unassisted.

On the bump-up shift, ALEX LYON STONED BROCK BOESER off a lateral pass from Nils Hoglander, and Simon Edvinsson just peeled Boeser away from the goal before he could poke the rebound in.

With the Canucks’ crowd energized, Vancouver picked up its play after a moribund first 40, and Detroit was struggling to get out of their own zone as Vancouver’s forecheck was heavy and speedy…

The Soderblom line–with Kane on it instead of Berggren–had a good shift with about 6:30 remaining in regulation time, and again, Detroit got a little lucky as the Canucks’ Tyler Myers leaned into a banger that went wide;

The Copp line had a good shift coming out of a TV timeout with 4:45 left, and Rasmussen and Soderblom nearly found Kane in the slot shortly thereafter;

DeBrusk got taken down heavily by Edvinsson with 4:00 left, and the Canucks’ fans erupted with anger, but it was a good take-down;

Justin Holl ALMOST solved the game as Lankinen stumbled, and Holl just chipped a loose puck a couple inches wide of the goalpost behind the Canucks’ goaltender;

Vancouver had some answers physically for the Wings, with Kiefer Sherwood hacking and banging Chiarot and Seider, and the Wings barely survived that exchange;

Soderblom and Rasmussen were unable to stop a Canucks rush, but Johansson stifled it single-handedly;

Then Chytil tried to beat Seider and Chiarot, and Seider said, “No.”

Seider picked off Pettersson away from the puck, and again, fans booed with 1:15 remaining;

The Wings iced the puck, however, so Larkin drew in vs. Chytil and won the draw, affording Seider a clear and Detroit a partial change;

With 53.9 left in the 3rd, the Wings iced the puck again, and the Copp line faced Pettersson and company, but Copp won the draw and Seider cleared it out to center, with DeBrincat and Copp battling a bouncing puck on bad ice…

Lyon beat Pettersson to the puck as Johansson lost a bumble-puck with only 20 seconds left, and Lyon chipped the puck out of the zone…

And that was regulation time.

IN OVERTIME…Dettroit started Raymond, Larkin and Gustafsson, and the Wings lost the draw, so Vancouver slowly set up, Garland cycled, cycled vs. Gustafsson, Raymond shadowed Chytil, Garland fed Hronek, he was blocked…

Up came Raymond to LARKIN and he BLASTED a shot into Lankinen;

Raymond walked out to center and let the Wings change, and Copp took the puck to complete the change with 3:44 left, Seider came out with Copp and DeBrincat, DeBrincat walked up the lw side fed Copp, back to DeBrincat, to Copp through center to DeBrincat vs. 2 Canucks, to Seider, walkingto Copp last man back reverses for Seider lw side walks to rw side for Copp, to DeBrincat, to Copp loses the handle, Seider for Kane rt wing side, 2:53 left…

Kane cycles for Chiarot, he regains for Kane wide, Kane held up, Chiarot racing vs. Boeser and Pettersson, and LYON makes his stop…

Kane and Gustafsson cycle in the offensive zone for Kasper, Larkin joins for Kane, cycles, out to center, back in, drop for Gustafsson to Larkin, bad pass, DeBrusk and Myers walk back, 1:50 left in OT…

Sherwood walked up dropped to DeBrusk, reverse to center ice for Hronek, out to Garland shot stopped by Lyon…

1:15 left Lyon passes to Larkin for Tarasenko sticks shot stopped in the slot by Lankinen…

Garland races up with Chytil to Garland, stopped Raymond, Garland for Chytil loses it, up comes Detroit 3 on 2, DeBrincat to RAYMOND TO DEBRINCAT GOAL WINNER OT.

SEIDER raced toward the net in the middle and that forced the Canucks to give Raymond and DeBrincat the space to score the gamer at 4:17.

Detroit wins 3 games in 4 nights.

DeBrincat from Raymond and Seider at 4:17.

Statistics: Here are the Game Summary and Event Summary:

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George Malik

My name is George Malik, and I'm the Malik Report's editor/blogger/poster. I have been blogging about the Red Wings since 2006, and have worked with MLive and Kukla's Korner. Thank you for reading!