Dylan Larkin and Jonatan Berggren scored two goals apiece and the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 on Saturday afternoon.
Larkin added an assist for a three-point game, while the rookie Berggren had notched his first game with multiple goals.
“He’s a crafty guy and he finds ways to score,” Larkin said of Berggren.
Filip Hronek also scored for the Red Wings, who took a 2-0 lead in the first three minutes. Ben Chiarot and Moritz Seider recorded two assists apiece while Ville Husso made 32 saves.
Anthony Beauvillier and Elias Pettersson scored for the Canucks. Spencer Martin stopped 20 shots.
The teams were playing the first game of a home-and-home set, with the rematch in Vancouver on Monday.
“We’ve got these guys again on Monday and we’re going to be on the road,” Larkin said.
“We’ve been decent on the road and we need to keep that going. We have to get to the trade deadline and keep ourselves in (the playoff race).”
Larkin scored his first goal of the game from the left circle, beating Martin on the stick side. Berggren made it 2-0 when he tipped in a Chiarot shot.
Beauvillier notched his second goal since being acquired from the New York Islanders on a power play. He scored in the slot off a J.T. Miller pass at 2:02 of the second period.
“Not the start we wanted but, still, this team’s come back from two (goals) more than once this year, so we weren’t out of it,” Vancouver forward Dakota Joshua said.
“But at the end of the day, you can’t start like that and we weren’t able to climb out of it today.”
Larkin scored his team-leading 18th goal on a power play at 13:16 of the period. He converted a side-to-side feed from Robby Fabbri before Martin could recover.
“They (Vancouver) clearly won the second period,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. “Getting that goal to go into the third up two goals was huge.”
Vancouver was awarded a penalty shot at 1:38 of the third when Ethan Bear was pulled down on a breakaway. Bear crashed into the boards and had to be assisted off the ice. Quinn Hughes replaced him but lost control of the puck as he tried to skate across the crease.
Less than a minute later, Hronek gave Detroit a 4-1 advantage with a shot that whistled past Martin’s left shoulder. Berggren converted another power-play opportunity midway through the period.
“For me, personally, it is always good when you score. Your confidence gets higher and higher,” he said. “But I think the most important thing is that we get two points.”
Pettersson scored his 25th goal on a rebound of a Beauvillier shot. Vancouver wound up 1-2-1 on its four-game road swing after the All-Star break.
“There are a lot of what ifs, but the bottom line is four (games) in six (days). A lot of teams go through this,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said. “You’ve got to be really mentally focused and we weren’t at the start.”
Vancouver gets a chance to avenge the loss in the first game of a three-game homestand.
“We’ll be very inviting on Monday to see them again,” Joshua said. “After this performance, we owe them a good one.”
NOTES
Red Wings second-year forward Lucas Raymond missed the first game of his career with a lower-body injury suffered in practice on Friday. He had played in 132 consecutive games. … Detroit D Jake Walman was sidelined by an upper-body injury.. … Canucks D Oliver Ekman-Larsson played his 900th career game. … The Red Wings are 14-0-2 when leading after two periods.
UP NEXT
Canucks: Host Detroit on Monday.
Red Wings: Begin a five-game road trip at Vancouver on Monday.
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