Red Wings win 2 on Canada trip

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) - Henrik Zetterberg picked a perfect time to break out of his scoring slump.

Zetterberg scored two goals, including the game-winner, as the Detroit Red Wings beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 on Saturday night.

"I didn't even think about it," Zetterberg said of his slump.

Zetterberg broke out with his first goals in 11 games, dating to the Red Wings' 8-3 rout of Vancouver in Detroit on Feb. 24.

While the goals haven't been coming lately, Zetterberg has been racking up the assists and averaging a point per game.

"I think you in Canada are more stat freaks than we are in the States," Zetterberg said. "So it's nice to get it going here where you notice it."

It was equally important for the Red Wings to win as Detroit has found itself in the unusual position of battling for a playoff spot.

"We've had a lot of ups and downs," Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard said. "Hopefully, we can find a little bit more of an even keel out there now instead of some peaks and valleys."

Justin Abdelkader also scored twice for the Red Wings (14-10-5), Daniel Cleary had a goal, and Pavel Datsyuk added three assists to help Detroit win on the road for the second time in in two nights.

"I think that was the first time in my career that I scored two goals and (the puck) didn't even touch my stick," said Abdelkader, who was credited with goals that went in off his skate and chest.

Abdelkader considered himself fortunate that he was able to play after he sustained a cut on his foot in Edmonton on Friday. The cut required eight to 10 stitches to close.

"I just got my skate fixed (Saturday) morning, and came back for the game and didn't know if I would be able to play or not," he said.

Alex Burrows scored both of Vancouver's goals. His first, which came just 6 seconds in, was the fastest opening goal in Canucks history.

Zetterberg made amends for losing the opening faceoff to Henrik Sedin before Burrows' quick goal.

"We wanted (Henrik Sedin's) line to play against Zetterberg, and they did a real good job in the first period and part way through the second," Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault said. "In the third period they had Datsyuk going out there, and Hank had a tough time against that line.

"Their top players were obviously a little bit better than ours."

Vancouver, which outshot Detroit 35-26, allowed one power-play goal in three chances, but the Canucks were 0-for-6 on their advantages.

The Canucks lost for the first time in three games.

Burrows started the scoring quickly when he took a cross-ice pass from Daniel Sedin and fired a shot just inside the post from the top of the right circle. The goal was Burrows' first in 11 games.

Burrows broke Trevor Linden's record for Vancouver's fastest first goal -- 9 seconds -- set against Anaheim on Jan. 16, 1994. It was the fourth fastest in NHL history.

But the Canucks generated few dangerous opportunities afterward, despite outshooting Detroit by a wide margin in the first 30 minutes.

"It was a tough start, especially in this building," Howard said. "You don't want to give them momentum like that, because it can get pretty loud really quick.

"So I thought we did a great job in responding and not letting it get us down."

Abdelkader made it 1-1 at 6:08 of the first period when Pavel Datsyuk's pass went in off his skate.

Burrows had another excellent scoring chance with just under nine minutes left in the first, but Howard came across the crease and made a diving glove save as the Vancouver winger one-timed Jannik Hansen's pass from the opposite post.

The Canucks lost forward David Booth to a leg injury in the final minute of the first period as he raced to the puck in the Detroit corner to beat an icing call. He got to the puck in time, but he was checked into the boards and wound up under a pile of players.

He couldn't put any weight on his left leg as he glided off the ice and didn't return for the start of the second period.

The Canucks ran into penalty trouble in the second period when Burrows' high-sticking infraction nullified a Vancouver power play. Max Lapierre's subsequent tripping penalty gave the Red Wings a two-man advantage for 1:16.

With Lapierre still in the box, Zetterberg fired in a pass from Datsyuk.

Jannik Hansen had a chance to draw the Canucks even on a penalty shot about three minutes later, after he was hauled down on a breakaway by Abdelkader. But he clanked a shot off the corner of the post and crossbar.

Zetterberg increased Detroit's lead to 3-1 just 1:20 into the third when he whipped in Valtteri Filppula's pass.

Cleary widened the gap with a wrist shot from the slot about four and a half minutes later. He also scored for the first time since the previous game with the Canucks, thanks to some more nice passing from Joakim Andersson and Fabien Brunner.

Vancouver had a two-man advantage for 1:20 but couldn't get any closer.

Abdelkader scored his second goal of the night at 14:44 of the third period as he jammed

the puck past Roberto Luongo. The goal was awarded after it appeared Luongo had kept the puck out, but video showed it crossed the goal line.

Burrows scored his second goal as he backhanded in his own rebound with just under three minutes remaining. The goals were his first in 11 games.

NOTES: Detroit forward Patrick Eaves played in his 400th NHL game. ... The Canucks wore Vancouver Millionaires replica jerseys in honor of the team that played from 1912-22 in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association. ... The Red Wings have lost defenseman Kyle Quincey indefinitely to a fractured cheekbone sustained Friday in Edmonton. Ian White took his place in the lineup. ... Vancouver winger Zack Kassian sat out because of a recurring lower-back injury.

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EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) -- The Detroit Red Wings were feeling rather fortunate to have ended up with the win on Friday night.

Pavel Datsyuk scored at 3:39 of overtime to give Detroit a 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers, snapping the Red Wings' three-game skid.

Datsyuk made a nice move to get past defender Jeff Petry and blasted a shot past Oilers goalie Devan Dubnyk.

"We didn't have anything to lose in that third period," Datsyuk said. "We were on the road, we didn't have any pressure, we just had to go play.

"Mule (Johan Franzen) made a perfect play getting the puck in the neutral zone and giving me a good pass. I was able to come in with some speed, which made it tough for the defenseman who was at the blue line."

Petry was also a factor on the tying goal as he scored on his own net to tie the score at 2-2 on a goal credited to Detroit's Niklas Kronwall with 5:53 to go in regulation.

Valtteri Filppula also scored for the Red Wings, and Jimmy Howard had 30 saves.

Detroit coach Mike Babcock said he was glad to see his team rally late after a disappointing first 40 minutes.

"In the first two periods we weren't very competitive," he said. "We weren't getting any time in the offensive zone, we weren't physical or competitive on the puck, we weren't good enough. In the loss to Calgary the other night I thought we were really good and turned the puck over.

"Tonight I thought we were no good and then got playing in the third. I don't think that's the recipe for success. We need to play a full 60 minutes. But I thought our guys really dug in and got competitive at the end."

Taylor Jall and Sam Gagner had the Oilers' goals, and Dubnyk finished with 25 saves.

"It's disappointing because we had the game under control," Oilers coach Ralph Krueger said. "We got pushed back by a very strong push by Detroit at the end and couldn't create any offence when we needed it."

On the tying goal, was attempting to to clear a big rebound on Kronwall's shot.

"It doesn't feel good now, but I can't hang my head," Petry said. "I was just coming back to the net. It came off his pad and it hit my stick and went in. We had a good start to the game. You don't want to have it go away like that."

Krueger felt for the third-year defenseman.

"It's a tough one," he said. "He got beat in the overtime by one of the best players in the world on a world-class move. This is a game for him to grow and learn from.

"It's a tough one for Jeff, but it is the team that takes responsibility for the turnaround, not an individual player."

The Oilers started the scoring 3 1/2 minutes in as Hall found a seam to slip past two Detroit defenders up the middle and beat Howard with a low wrist shot.

Edmonton had 10 shots in the first period while the Red Wings were only able to direct five shots on Dubnyk.

The Oilers came close to adding to their lead one minute into the second period as Magnus Paajarvi sped past Detroit defender Brian Lashoff but Howard was able to make the pad save in tight.

Edmonton had another opportunity a few minutes later as Ales Hemsky picked up his own rebound off of the boards and hooked in front of the net, but a sprawling Howard was able to get a piece of it.

Detroit came close midway through the second on a power play but Datsyuk's shot went off the post.

Edmonton took a 2-0 lead with 4 minutes to play in the second after some hard work by Hall allowed Nail Yakupov to swing out front and take a shot. The rebound was pounded in from the side of the net by Gagner for his team-leading 11th goal of the season.

Detroit finally got on the board 4 minutes into the third period as Filppula was allowed to skate out front and lifted a backhand shot past Dubnyk to make it 2-1.

NOTES: The Oilers were playing at home for the first time in 20 days after enduring a team-record nine-game road trip. ... F Mike Brown made his home debut for the Oilers after being acquired in a trade with Toronto during the lengthy trip. ... The Red Wings swept the three-game series series, winning the previous meetings 3-0 and 2-1. The Wings won three of four games against the Oilers last season. ... After five goals in his first eight games, Yakupov -- the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 draft, has just