The Detroit Red Wings are back atop the Central Division after winning two straight from their closest rivals. Now, they will try to start the stretch run to a sixth consecutive division title with a win Friday against the Vancouver Canucks.
The Red Wings (45-17-9) regained the lead in the Central by sweeping Nashville in a home-and-home series, capped by a 4-2 home victory Wednesday in which Jiri Hudler scored two goals.
Despite being the top overall team in the NHL with 99 points, Red Wings coach Mike Babcock is not reading too much into favorable first-round matchups with 11 games remaining.
“Is there a team we want to play in the first round?” Babcock asked. “No. They’re all too good. In the Western Conference last year, the top four seeds lost in the first round. Well, the West is even closer than it was last year.”
As has been the case all season, the Red Wings exerted their dominance in the third period of both games, outscoring the Predators 5-1 in the two victories. Hudler scored both game-winning goals in the sweep in the third period, and Detroit has a league-high 91 goals in the final 20 minutes of games.
“It’s not like he just turned the switch,” Babcock said. “He’s getting better and better. He has a chance because of his heart, skill and ability to be a difference-maker.”
The Red Wings, who have a one-point lead and a game in hand on the Predators, are 15-3-3 —including a 6-2-1 road mark—since a three-game losing streak from Jan. 19-26.
Red Wings center Pavel Datsyuk had two assists Wednesday. He now has two goals and 13 assists in that span in a nine-game point streak.
Vancouver (42-23-6) has a slim one-point lead over Calgary atop the Northwest Division with 11 games remaining. The Canucks avoided a third consecutive loss with a 3-2 victory Thursday night over St. Louis as Daniel Sedin scored a power-play goal 69 seconds into overtime and Roberto Luongo became the 20th goaltender to record a 40-win season.
“It’s nice to get the milestone, but it’s really not important at this stage of the season,” Luongo said. “Every win for me is about playoff position.”
Sedin’s power-play goal also ended a drought of nearly five games without man-advantage goal for the Canucks, who failed to convert their previous 20 chances.
“We had a lot of scoring chances,” said Daniel Sedin, who had a game-high seven shots and set up twin brother Henrik for the opening goal 1:30 into the second period. “But we just have to stick with it. If you keep shooting, it’s going to get in.”
Daniel Sedin, who has team highs of 31 goals and 69 points, also has 14 of Vancouver’s 60 power-play goals.
The road team has won all three games this season, with the Canucks recording a 4-3 overtime victory at Detroit on Nov. 22 on a goal by Brendan Morrison.
Team Comparison
Blog Coverage from SB Nation
Winging It In Motown
Nucks MisconductInjuries
Andreas Lilja D, Johan Franzen RW, Valtteri Filppula C, Jason Williams RW, Niklas Kronwall D
Pavol Demitra C, Alexandre Bolduc C, Michael Grabner RW
Notes
By sweeping the Blue Jackets, the Red Wings became the first team since the 2002 Colorado Avalanche to advance past the conference quarterfinals the season after winning the Stanley Cup. Colorado made it to the conference finals in 2002 before losing to Detroit, which went on to win the championship. But the Red Wings fell to the Vancouver Canucks in the quarterfinals in 2003. Others to fail to advance were the 2004 New Jersey Devils, the 2006 Tampa Bay Lightning, the 2007 Carolina Hurricanes - who did not even qualify for the playoffs - and the 2008 Anaheim Ducks. ... Detroit enjoyed success on the power play, scoring three times on six opportunities. But it was unable to stop Columbus, which went 2-for-2 with the man advantage. ... RW Marian Hossa, who scored a pair of goals, registered a game-high seven shots.
Apr 23, 11:05 pm EDT
The Canucks avoided an embarrassing loss Thursday, scoring with 73 seconds remaining in the third period to snap a 3-3 tie after entering the session with a 3-0 lead. ... Vancouver was 1-for-7 on the power play. ... C Ryan Kesler and RW Pavol Demitra each registered a game-high five shots on goal. ... C Kyle Wellwood won all seven of his faceoffs.
May 1, 12:38 am EDT