Trending: Glendening, Howard send Wings into break with a win

EDMONTON -- The Red Wings got the insurance goal they needed and finally closed out a game.
After taking a 2-0 lead into the third, the Wings held off a hard-charging Edmonton Oilers team for a 3-2 victory at Rogers Place Tuesday night, snapping a two-game skid.

Dylan Larkin and Luke Glendening (two) scored for the Wings. Leon Draisaitl and Matt Benning scored for the Oilers.

Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard made 32 saves right before heading to San Jose to represent his team in the All-Star Game.
Edmonton goalkeeper Mikko Koskinen, fresh off signing a three-year contract extension Monday, had 24 saves.
The Wings improved to 19-25-7. The Oilers fell to 23-24-3.
After the All-Star break, the Wings will have a home and away back-to-back set, at home against the Toronto Maple Leafs Feb. 1 and at Ottawa Feb. 2.
The Oilers also have a back-to-back after the break, both on the road. They play at Philadelphia Feb. 2 and at Montreal Feb. 3.
1. Luke Glendening: Glendening was a little worse for the wear after blocking a shot in Sunday's game in Vancouver even though he returned to finish the game. The Wings kept Glendening from practice on Monday to give him a little time to heal. But Glendening was back on the ice for the optional morning skate Tuesday. Midway through the second, Darren Helm carried the puck into the offensive zone and passed to Glendening at net front and Glendening beat Koskinen at 10:01 for his seventh goal of the season. Andreas Athanasiou also assisted. While Glendening was up to his usual tricks in blocking shots, he was not done scoring. At 6:28 of the third, Glendening took the puck to the net and the puck squeezed through Koskinen's legs. Athanasiou and Filip Hronek assisted. It was an important goal as the Oilers had cut the Wings' lead to 2-1 just two minutes before. The last time Glendening had two goals in a game was March 27 at home against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Glendening was named first star of the game. He finished with 30 shifts for 18:12, was tied with Athanasiou for the team lead in shots with 4, had two hits, a team-high four blocked shots, was 6-for-18 in face-offs and was plus-1.

Quotable: "We were getting hemmed in our zone a little bit in the third but we didn't fold. I think that was huge for our team. This trip has seen us fold a few times and for us not to do that this game was huge. It was nice to be able to finish one. This trip hasn't been kind to us in that respect. We've played pretty good hockey and to get some results right before break is huge to us." -- Glendening
Quotable II: "Luke's had a really good year. Luke is an excellent, really excellent useful player in the sense that he can do so many different things. He wins faceoffs, had some huge blocks, the one goal is a result of his block. You're using him in a lot of different situations. He's a really good athlete, he's an ability to score, so good for him to score." -- Wings coach Jeff Blashill
Quotable III: "It's nice to see him get rewarded. For him a lot of nights it's a lot of blocked shots and a lot of doing the dirty things for us, so it's nice to see him get rewarded with a couple of goals here tonight." -- Howard
2. Dylan Larkin: Before the game, Blashill was asked about Larkin just scratching the surface of his goal scoring possibility and Blashill said he believed that Larkin would keep pushing his ceiling higher. Larkin came into the game just three goals shy of the career high 23 he set in 80 games during his rookie season in 2015-16. At 4:03 of the second period, Gustav Nyquist found Larkin in the right circle and Larkin flicked the puck past Koskinen for his 21st of the season. Tyler Bertuzzi picked up the second assist. Larkin has three goals and four assists in his last five games. Nyquist has one goal and five assists in his last five games. Larkin finished with 29 shifts for 23:20, had three shots, one hit, one giveaway, one blocked shot, was 16-for-28 in face-offs and was even.

Quotable: "It feels good, really good. You get two points going into the break and feeling good about our game. Played a solid game. We didn't really give McDavid and Draisital a whole lot, even though they found a way to get on the scoresheet. We took a lot of time and space away from them. That's the way we got to play and it's a huge two points for us going into the break." -- Larkin
Quotable II: "(Larkin's) been outstanding. Every night he's our best player. We couldn't ask for any more from him. He's vocal in the room when he needs to be, but just the way he carries himself and the way he's been playing has been outstanding." -- Glendening
Quotable III: "Larkin was great again, he was great tonight. He faced McDavid a lot, not exclusively, but a lot, and he's an ultra-competitor. He faced him twice in the World Championships and did a good job. I thought McDavid was a little bit better in our building, but I thought Larks was great tonight. So he's an ultra-competitor." -- Blashill

3. Jimmy Howard: Howard was starting in his final game before the All-Star break and was looking to help his team snap a two-game losing skid. Howard only faced seven shots in the first, the toughest when the Wings had a power play. Adam Larsson came in shorthanded on the left side and Howard was there. Howard then got a break when Connor McDavid hit the left post on a shorthanded chance. At 4:31 of the third, Draisaitl was the beneficiary of a rebound that came to him at the right side of the net. Jonathan Ericsson couldn't jump in front of the empty net before Draisaitl buried it. The Oilers came out on fire in the third, keeping Howard on his toes. He made two stops on McDavid midway through the frame and then had to make three more during an Edmonton power play. With 3:24 left in the third, Oilers coach Ken Hitchcock pulled Koskinen and the Oilers cut the lead to 3-2 when Matt Benning scored at 17:34. Howard made 15 of his 32 shots in the third, earning second star honors.'

Quotable: "You knew they were going to have some push in the third in their building going into break. Obviously we did a good job in not giving them much through two periods. They were able to apply pressure in the third. But we held on and got two points." -- Howard
Quotable II: "He was excellent in the third. He's been good throughout the year, that's why he's in the All-Star Game. But I thought he was excellent in the third. He's got a big-time competitiveness to him, that's something that struck me from the first time I coached him. He grinds to win hockey games, so he was a big factor in us winning." -- Blashill
Quotable III: "That's why he's our All-Star. He's a guy who's been there for us every game, he battles and made some huge saves for us. I know he's going to have a lot of fun at the All-Star Game and it'll be fun for his whole family and two little boys and his young daughter to go, as well. Memories for the family that'll last a lifetime." -- Larkin