Strong second period propels Wings

By Michael Caples –

DETROIT – The Red Wings fired 24 shots in the second period of their game against the Vancouver Canucks. In that time frame, they recorded two goals – more than enough for Jimmy Howard to work with.

The Wings’ goaltender picked up his first shutout of the season to help the Wings earn a 2-0 victory over the defending Western Conference champions. Justin Abdelkader and Valtteri Filppula scored goals 2:18 apart in the second period for Detroit.

Howard, who made 25 saves on the night, credited the performance of the players in front of him for the momentum swing in the middle period. The Wings out-shot the Canucks 24-8 in the second, and 37-25 overall.

“We did a great job, we really took over the game,” Howard said. “We were the team in the second period that started to get through the neutral zone, just go to work on their d for a change, got pucks on net – a simple yet effective game plan.”

After a scoreless first period, Abdelkader struck first for the Wings. The Muskegon native collected a pass from Todd Bertuzzi at the left side of the slot and beat goaltender Cory Schneider to the left post with a quick wrist shot. It wasn’t the first time Abdelkader scored on Schneider – the Canucks netminder was also the goalie Abdelkader beat to help Michigan State win a NCAA title in 2007.

Just over two minutes later, Valtteri Filppula recorded his first goal of the 2011-12 campaign. Johan Franzen drove to the center of the Vancouver zone, and passed the puck over to Filppula at the right circle. From just below the face-off dot, Filppula managed to beat Schneider shortside, firing the puck to the upper-right corner and giving the Wings a two-goal lead.

Coach Mike Babcock credited the Wings’ penalty kill – which was a perfect 7-for-7 – as one of the main reasons his team held on for the win.

“Our penalty kill was really good tonight,” Babcock said. “Coming in to the game I was concerned about that just because their power play is so dangerous.”

Detroit, now 3-0-0 on the season, travels to Minnesota for a road test Saturday night. Puck drops at 8 p.m.