  Vancouver Canucks' Roberto Luongo reacts after the winning goal by Detroit Red Wings' Henrik Zetterberg during overtime in Vancouver, B.C. on March 20, 2010. (LYLE STAFFOR/Reuters) |
Although the Canucks lost Saturday at GM Place, they did so without helping out the Flames.
Henrik Zetterberg's overtime winner as time expired gave Detroit a 4-3 victory over Vancouver, which keeps the Red Wings in the eighth and final playoff spot in the West, moving them two points ahead of Calgary.
A loss in regulation would have dropped them to ninth.
Backed by Roberto Luongo's 50-save effort, the Canucks managed to get at least a point out of the ordeal, moving six points ahead of Colorado for the Northwest division lead.
"We were to some extent fortunate to get a point tonight," said coach Alain Vigneault. "Our goaltender was real good but their top players took their games to a real big level. They were real desparate and they played hard."
Despite Detroit outshooting the Canucks 17-8 in the first period, the home team skated into the first intermission with a two-goal lead, thanks to Kyle Wellwood and Shane O'Brien.
Both their goals came from point shots, as Wellwood tipped in a Christian Ehrhoff slapper, while O'Brien's wrister through traffic deflected in off a Detroit defenceman. Both players also assisted on each other's tally.
"We had a good start getting pucks to the net," said Wellwood, who finished with two shots on net. "We were able to get two goals off the bat, they seemed to take over from there. It was difficult to contain them."
The Red Wings tied the game up in the second with goals coming five seconds apart.
Todd Bertuzzi got the first one 12:34 into the middle frame after he found a loose puck in between Kevin Bieksa's skates during a goal-mouth scramble
Right after the ensuing centre-ice faceoff, Pavel Datsyuk skated into the Canucks zone and fired a shot from just inside the blueline that tipped off Sami Salo and past Luongo.
It was the fastest two goals allowed by the Canucks in franchise history, surpassing the previous record of seven seconds.
Just five minutes later with Detroit on the penalty kill, Valtteri Filppula stole the puck from Alex Edler, resulting in a breakaway tally and the Finn's first career shorthanded goal.
"They've got some players who are obviously playing at the top of their game, and when they start handling the puck like that, it's hard to get it off them and you see how good they are," said Wellwood.
After the three-goal second period by the Red Wings, the Canucks came out strong in the third, as Daniel Sedin scored 4:40 into the period for his 20th goal of the year to even the game at three.
The goal also gives the Canucks six 20-goal scorers this season.
Henrik Sedin, who had an assist on the play, is two points behind Alex Ovechkin for the scoring lead after the Washington Capitals forward also picked up a point earlier in the day.
Both teams finished 0-for-two on the powerplay, while the shots were 54-32 in favour of Detroit. Zetterberg led the way with nine.
Meanwhile, the Canucks have two days off before heading to Edmonton Tuesday to face the bottom-feeding Oilers, who sit last in the NHL.
