Red Wings pull away from Canucks for 3rd straight win

VANCOUVER -- Dylan Larkin scored two goals for the second straight game, and the Detroit Red Wings swept a home-and-home series against the Vancouver Canucks with a 6-1 win at Rogers Arena on Monday.

Robby Fabbri had a goal and two asissts, Gustav Lindstrom had a goal and an assist, and Ville Husso made 29 saves for the Red Wings (24-20-8), who have won three straight, including 5-2 against the Canucks in Detroit on Saturday.
Larkin, however, didn't want to talk about the game, instead wanting to speak only about the mass shooting that occurred at Michigan State University on Monday night.
"This is pretty sobering dealing right now with tonight, coming into the locker room hearing the news and we're all just pretty, pretty devastated by it and our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved, all the students, all the families," Larkin said, his voice breaking. "It just hurts the heart and we feel for everyone involved.
"I know tonight was a win, but it's kind of hard to talk about anything else. We're all thinking about our home state right now."
Sheldon Dries scored, and Collin Delia made 17 saves for the Canucks (21-29-4), who are 1-3-1 in their past five games. It was the 25th time in 54 games this season that Vancouver has given up five or more goals.
"We're going to have to go back to grade school on how to defend, how to stop and start because too many guys are spinning," said Canucks coach Rick Tocchet, who is 3-4-1 since taking over for coach Bruce Boudreau on Jan. 22. "We're a very high-risk team. You've got to take pride in defending, you've got to take pride in blocking a shot or getting the puck out. You've got to have that pride."
The Canucks were coming off a four-game road trip and played their fifth game in eight days, but Tocchet wasn't interested in excuses.
"Structure, discipline, leadership, they get you through these games when you just maybe don't have your best," Tocchet said. "If you don't have your legs, then you've got to play smart hockey, don't chase the game."
Larkin made it 1-0 on a breakaway at 10:58 of the first period. Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider deflected a pass by Vancouver defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson in Detroit's zone, and Larkin won a race with Elias Pettersson and Luke Schenn before tucking a deke between Delia's pads.
"Energy, spark," Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said of Larkin. "He was flying early on."

Larkin then made it 2-0 on a power play at 19:24, tapping in a backdoor pass after Tyler Bertuzzi won a battle for the puck behind the net out front to Fabbri. Larkin has five goals during a three-game goal streak and seven points (five goals, two assists) in a four-game point streak.
"He's an unbelievable player," Husso said. "I had problems in practice with him, like he's so sneaky on breakaways especially, and when he feels it, it's kind of like he's unstoppable. It was nice for him to get a couple of goals today."
Dries cut it to 2-1 at 1:31 of the second period, taking a cross-ice pass from Conor Garland in tight off his skate and directing it in with one hand on his stick.
Fabbri pushed it to 3-1 at 8:09 when he dove to knock in a rebound in the crease after Delia couldn't control a shot by Rasmussen from the left hash marks.
The Canucks had a chance to close the gap with consecutive power plays in the second period, but Brock Boeser missed an open net off a backdoor pass and hit a post, and Husso made a couple of difficult saves.
"I thought the huge part of the game was our two penalty kills at the end of the second period," Lalonde said. "Great job by Ville, good job by our penalty kill and we got a little fortunate there, which sometimes you need."
Lindstrom made it 4-1 on a wraparound 40 seconds into the third period before Pius Suter gave Detroit a 5-1 lead at 5:19 on a breakaway.
"We've had trouble consistently scoring goals, so it was a big boost," Lalonde said of the depth scoring. "We had offense from a lot of different guys tonight."

Jonatan Berggren converted a backdoor tap-in on a delayed penalty to make it 6-1 at 7:52.
Husso was called for delay of game for pulling the net down as he scrambled back into the crease with 59.4 seconds, which in the final minute of play results in a penalty shot. However, he stopped Phillip Di Giuseppe's attempt with his blocker.
"I don't know what to tell you guys, it was a terrible game," Vancouver defenseman Quinn Hughes said. "It hasn't been a great year."
NOTES: Lindstrom was playing for the first time in four games and the second time in nine games with defenseman Jake Walman out with an upper-body injury. … Top-line Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury. … Pettersson had his point streak end at five games (six goals, two assists).