Red Wings' Tatar scores late to end Canucks' comeback bid
Detroit forward's 200th career point ices game with 1:14 remaining
Despite battling back from a two-goal deficit, the Canucks were left empty-handed after facing the surging Red Wings.
Tomas Tatar scored the go-ahead goal late in the third as visiting Detroit edged Vancouver 3-2 on Monday for its fourth win in five games.
The Canucks rallied in the third period with goals 2:14 apart, but Tatar scored the winner with just 1:14 left to play, dashing any hope of getting to overtime and securing at least a point.
"I thought overtime would probably be fair tonight for both teams, but they have good offensive guys on their team and made us pay," said Daniel Sedin, who scored the first of Vancouver's two goals.
"It's too bad when we battle back and give up that many grade-A chances. It's not good enough."
Defenceman Michael Del Zotto scored the other for Vancouver (7-5-2), which played its final game of a five-game home stand (2-2-1). Jacob Markstrom made 26 saves in his fourth straight start for the Canucks, who will now head on road where they will be for 10 of their next 12 games.
"It's good to get back to the road, get back to playing simple and doing the little things properly," said Del Zotto. "Hopefully, we get two points next game."
Martin Frk and Darren Helm also scored for Detroit (8-7-1), which was coming off a 4-0 shutout in Edmonton the night prior. Jimmy Howard made 26 saves for the Red Wings.
Own goal
Tatar's goal was his 200th career point and first goal in eight games. When asked about the milestone he quickly deflected praise.
"I feel like in this moment the most important thing for us is two points," said Tatar. "Everybody is on the same page and we trust each other and we are just playing good hockey and we should stick with that."
Despite playing its second game in as many nights, Detroit came out more aggressive and opened the scoring less than five minutes in on a rush. A streaking Justin Abdelkader swatted his rebound off the back boards to Frans Nielsen, whose shot Markstrom kicked out right to Helm for the put-back.
The Red Wings went up 2-0 at 15:15 on the power play with a goal that had Canuck fans groaning. Frk's slapshot through traffic rebounded to Canucks defenceman Chris Tanev, who appeared to miscalculate a clearing attempt and shovelled the puck right into his own net. Frk was credited with the goal.
"It was tough," said Canucks defenceman Ben Hutton. "You have to feel for Tanny and Marky on that one."
The Canucks' rally started with Sedin battling for a loose puck in the Detroit crease before backhanding it in to make it 2-1 at seven minutes into the third. Then Bo Horvat found Del Zotto in the slot and the defenceman wristed the puck over Howard's shoulder, as the crowd erupted. It was Sedin's first goal in seven games and Del Zotto's first of the year.
"Nice to get that first one," said Del Zotto. "It came at a good time. I've been getting my chances, so I've been trying to stay positive and hope one goes in. Hopefully, I can get a couple more and the flood gets open."