Baertschi powers Canucks past Red Wings

DETROIT -- Sven Baertschi scored his first two goals of the season to help the Vancouver Canucks to a 4-1 win against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Sunday.
"I've had a lot of chances in the last few games, so it felt good to finally put one in," Baertschi said. "Getting a second one made it even better."

Derek Dorsett and Jake Virtanen also scored for Vancouver (4-3-1). Jacob Markstrom made 20 saves.
WATCH: [All Canucks vs. Red Wings highlights]
Anthony Mantha scored for Detroit (4-4-1), which lost its fourth straight (0-3-1). Jimmy Howard made 33 saves.
"This was a bad game," Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg said. "We weren't crisp, and we didn't execute. We have to be way better than this."
Baertschi opened the scoring at 14:34 of the first period when he collected Bo Horvat's shot from the left circle in front of the net and then backhanded the puck past Howard.

"I just wanted to be patient and get Howard out of position before I took the shot," Baertschi said.
Mantha scored at 18:28 of the first with a wrist shot from the left circle to make it 1-1. It was his fourth goal of the season.
Vancouver scored three goals in the second period and outshot Detroit 18-6.
"I didn't think we played with much emotion in the first period, and then we came out for the second period and laid an absolute egg," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said.
Dorsett gave the Canucks a 2-1 lead at 8:30, his fifth goal of the season and fourth in the past three games. Howard got his arm on Dorsett's point-blank shot, but the puck popped up in the air and deflected into the net off Howard's back.

Dorsett, 30, has never scored more than 12 goals in an NHL season. He has five through eight games.
"It's an amazing feeling, and we're all enjoying it," he said. "I just hope I can keep it going."
Baertschi scored his second goal of the game at 13:39 of the second period with a wrist shot from the slot.
"Sven's had a lot of chances in the last few games, so we knew he was going to put one away soon," Canucks coach Travis Green said. "Tonight, he did it twice."
Virtanen gave the Canucks a 4-1 lead at 19:35 when he knocked his own rebound past Howard after Mike Green's turnover set up a 2-on-1 break.
"Howard made a really nice save, but it came right back to me," Virtanen said. "It was a good break for me and an unlucky one for him."

Goal of the game

When Green turned the puck over under pressure late in the second period, Daniel Sedin waited for Virtanen to catch up on the 2-on-1 break before making the pass. Howard got his left pad on the shot, but Virtanen slid the rebound under his glove.

Save of the game

Martin Frk made a cross-ice pass to Trevor Daley, but Markstrom slid across his crease to make a pad save on Daley's point-blank shot to keep it a 0-0 game at 9:37 of the first period.

Highlight of the game

Baertschi intercepted Xavier Ouellet's clearing attempt, moved to the middle of the ice and put a wrist shot past Howard to give the Canucks a 3-1 lead.
"I got the puck along the wall and I cut inside," he said. "No one was coming at me, so I was able to take my time and pick a spot."

Need to know

Canucks defenseman Troy Stecher left the game in the second period because of a knee injury. He will be re-evaluated Monday. … Canucks defenseman Erik Gudbranson returned from a one-game suspension. …. Forward Scott Wilson made his Red Wings debut, one day after being acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins. Wilson had two hits in 9:28.

They said it

"I thought putting Jake with the twins would be a boost for a young player, and it would give the twins a jump because of his speed. He's done a great job with them." -- Canucks coach Travis Green on Jake Virtanen, who had eight shots on goal while playing with Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin
"It was a brutal effort. We should be embarrassed by ourselves, from me at the top all the way on down." -- Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill

What's next

Canucks: At the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; FS-N, SNV, NHL.TV)
Red Wings: At the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV)