Vancouver, BC (SportsNetwork.com) - Tomas Tatar scored the game-winning goal late in the second period and the Detroit Red Wings earned a hard-fought 2-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday at Rogers Arena.
Daniel Alfredsson scored Detroit's other goal and Jimmy Howard made 19 saves for the Red Wings, who snapped a four-game losing skid.
"I've got to give the guys a lot of credit tonight," Howard said. "They did a great job in front of me."
Daniel Sedin scored the lone Vancouver marker and Roberto Luongo allowed both goals on 27 shots for the Canucks, who had won four straight.
Sedin's wrister from a tough angle on the low right side staked the Canucks to a 1-0 lead with 5:48 left in the first, but the Red Wings responded with a pair of goals in the middle stanza to seize control of the contest.
Alfredsson evened the score 11:37 into the second when he pounded in a rebound from the low right side amid a scrum in front.
Detroit then pulled in front late in the frame when Tatar skated down the right side and stopped on a dime just inside the Vancouver zone before flipping a shot on net that snuck between the pads of Luongo to give Detroit a 2-1 lead with 1:02 left in the period.
Howard stood tall between the pipes in the third, turning away all seven shots he faced while helping the Red Wings kill off a pair of penalties to hang on for the victory.
"It's frustrating," Vancouver center Ryan Kesler said. "We played a decent game but were sloppy at times and we couldn't come back in the end."
Game Notes
Detroit's Patrick Eaves logged 7:23 of ice time in his season debut after missing the first 12 games with a sprained knee and ankle injury ... Daniel Sedin has notched seven points over his last five games, while brother Henrik registered an assist to run his point-streak to 10 games ... Both teams finished 0-for-3 on the power play.
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