LDN - Sports

Canucks cruise past Red Wings

[October 23, 2017] DETROIT -- The Vancouver Canucks keep on rolling, and so does Derek Dorsett. And Sven Baertschi was happy to report that he was finally getting in on the fun.

Baertschi scored his first two goals of the season, and Dorsett scored his fourth goal in the past three games as the Canucks downed the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 on Sunday.

"I've had a lot of chances in the last few games, so it was good to get one to go in," said Baertschi, who opened the scoring and later made it 3-1. "The second one made it even better."

Jake Virtanen added the final goal for Vancouver. Anthony Mantha had the only tally for Detroit.

The Canucks (4-3-1) improved to 3-1-0 on their five-game road trip, while the Red Wings (4-4-1) fell to 0-3-1 in their past four games.

Dorsett snapped a 1-1 tie 8:30 into the second period with his team-leading fifth goal. Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard got a glove on Dorsett's breakaway shot, but the puck bounced over Howard, hit him in the back of the left leg and rolled into the net.

Dorsett scored just once during the 2016-17 season, missing all but 14 games after undergoing neck surgery in December.

"This is obviously a great feeling," Dorsett said. "The boys are enjoying reminding me about what is happening, and that's been fun. After missing all that time, this has been great."

The Canucks opened the scoring at 14:34 of the first period. Bo Horvat's shot toward the Red Wings net deflected off the stick of Detroit's Dylan Larkin right to Baertschi, who cut around Howard (33 saves) and stuffed the puck home.

Brock Boeser also assisted on the goal, giving the Canucks' rookie forward six points in as many games.

Howard was impressed by what the Canucks brought to the ice.

"They executed what seemed like to me to be their game plan to a T," Howard said. "They did a great job all night long, so you have to give them credit."

Mantha tied the score at 18:28 of the first. Mantha took a pass from Gustav Nyquist and ripped a high snapshot from the left faceoff circle into the top corner on goalie Jacob Markstrom's glove side.

Markstrom finished with 20 saves.

Baertschi made it 3-1 with his second goal of the night, intercepting a clearing attempt by Red Wings defenseman Xavier Ouellet and whipping a shot past Howard at 13:39 of the second period.

The margin increased to 4-1 with 24.7 seconds left in the second frame. Daniel Sedin fed Virtanen on a two-on-one. Howard stopped Virtanen's first shot, but Virtanen drove the rebound into the net.

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Canucks center Bo Horvat (53) skates with the puck in the first period chased by Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin (71) at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

"Howard made a really nice save, but it came right back to me," Virtanen said. "It was a lucky bounce for me and a bad one for him. It felt good, because I had plenty of shots tonight. I should have buried a couple more."

As far as the Red Wings were concerned, they want to just bury the memory of this game and move on with the season.

"I thought it was an embarrassing effort, not even close to the level of competitiveness you have to have," Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. "We should be embarrassed for ourselves, from me at the top all the way on down. We got out-competed, outworked, out-detailed.

"We said at the beginning of camp, if we're going to separate ourselves, we've got to separate ourselves by outworking teams, out-competing teams, out-detailing teams. We got out-competed, outworked, and out-detailed in every facet of the game."

NOTES: The Red Wings will play seven of their next eight games on the road, beginning with Tuesday's game at Buffalo. .... Detroit D Danny DeKeyser (sprained ankle) missed his sixth straight game and is not expected to play Tuesday. ... Red Wings LW David Booth was a healthy scratch. Booth played for the Canucks from 2011-14. ... C Scott Wilson, acquired Saturday from the Pittsburgh Penguins, made his Red Wings debut, playing 9:28. ... Canucks LW Thomas Vanek posted 15-23-38 numbers last season in 48 games for Detroit. ... The Canucks returned D Patrick Wiercioch to AHL Utica. ... Canucks D Erik Gudbranson returned from a one-game NHL suspension for checking from behind. ... Canucks D Alex Edler (sprained MCL) and LW Loui Eriksson (knee) are both on injured reserve. ... C Michael Chaput and D Alex Biega were healthy scratches for Vancouver, which concludes its road trip Tuesday at Minnesota.

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