Red Wings 2 - 4 Canucks
Final
  for this game

Red Wings hope to shut down Canucks

Dec 21, 2011 - 4:03 PM (Sports Network) - Jimmy Howard recorded his first shutout of the season and eighth of his career when the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Vancouver Canucks back in October.

Howard made 25 saves and both Justin Abdelkader and Valtteri Filppula scored in the 2-0 win at Joe Louis Arena on Oct. 13. Howard has three shutouts on the season and looks to backstop the Red Wings past the Canucks on their ice tonight at Rogers Arena.

The Red Wings have won seven of the previous 10 meetings with the Canucks. These two teams have split the previous 14 showdowns in British Columbia.

Detroit opened a four-game road trip with Monday's 3-2 victory at Edmonton, as Drew Miller dented the net with 4:15 left in regulation to lead the way. Howard made 21 saves to push his league-best win total to 21 and is 12-2-0 in his last 14 appearances, while Danny Cleary and Jiri Hudler both scored for the Red Wings, winners in two straight and five of the past six games.

"I usually come around the net and go to the front, and I saw Cleary went there so I went to the high slot and got my stick on it," Miller said of his winning score. "Sometimes you get a lucky bounce."

The Red Wings will also visit Calgary and Nashville on the journey and own an 8-8-0 record away from the Motor City. They are second in the Central Division -- three points behind Chicago.

Vancouver has won two in a row and six of its last eight games, and opened a four-game homestand with a 4-0 blanking of Minnesota on Monday.

Roberto Luongo made 33 saves for his first shutout of the season and 56th of his career, helping the Canucks improve to 9-4-1 as the host. Luongo is 6-0-1 in his past seven games. Henrik Sedin, Ryan Kesler, Alexandre Burrows and Jannik Hansen all scored in the victory. Sedin added two assists and his brother, Daniel, was in on three goals.

"It was a big win for us," Henrik Sedin simply stated.

The Canucks are second in the Northwest Division and sit three points behind the Wild for the top spot. They will also welcome Calgary and Edmonton to town on the homestand. Defenseman Keith Ballard (back) is listed as questionable for Wednesday.






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