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BOX SCORE
DETROIT (AP) -- After three straight impressive road victories,
the Detroit Red Wings certainly didn't want to let down when they
returned home.
Captain Steve Yzerman made sure it didn't happen.
|  | | Sergei Fedorov hit goalie Garth Snow, but his shot got past the Canucks goalie for Detroit's third goal. |
Yzerman scored two goals as the Red Wings took their fourth
straight victory, 5-2 over Vancouver, to move within a point of
idle St. Louis for the Central Division lead.
The victory followed Detroit's road sweep of Western Conference
title contenders St. Louis, Colorado and Phoenix.
Yzerman said the Red Wings know that winning the division is the difference between probably being seeded first and no better
than fourth in the playoffs. Anything lower than fourth means no
home-ice advantage.
"Every point that you don't get is harder to make up," Yzerman
said. "St. Louis just isn't going to lose a lot of games. Also, if
you finish fourth, fifth isn't that far behind, either. So you're
in a battle for first and fourth, for that matter.
"You really have to play hard all the way down, which is good
because it prepares you more for the playoffs when you're in a real
struggle toward the end of the season."
Yzerman scored the first two goals in Detroit's three-goal first
period. Sergei Fedorov, Brent Gilchrist and Brendan Shanahan had
Detroit's other goals.
Gilchrist's second-period score was the last of four unanswered
goals for Detroit. It was his first of the season in his second
game after he missed the first 56 with a severe groin and thigh
injury.
"It feels awesome," Gilchrist said. "I guess when everybody
says 'you're back' it's great, but I'm cautious. I have to prove
I'm healthy enough to prove I can play every day. I guess tonight
gives me a lot of confidence I can go out and play."
Andrew Cassels and Todd Bertuzzi scored for the Canucks, who
have lost two straight and five of seven. Vancouver is in last
place in the Northwest Division.
"They hustled and played really hard and we didn't match
that," Canucks center Darby Hendrickson said. "We knew we had to
play a good game. They played well in all areas. Not only did they
play well offensively, but they backchecked and played well on
defense, too."
Chris Osgood made 30 saves for Detroit and Garth Snow stopped 32
shots for Vancouver.
Yzerman went 11 games without a goal before his two first-period
scores.
He skated in between the circles with a pass from Pat Verbeek
and lifted a shot over Snow, who was falling, just 4:26 in.
"We made a really bad mistake on the (first) Yzerman goal,"
Canucks coach Marc Crawford said. "You can't stick-check him. You
have to play the body, and he hurt us. That's why he's paid as much
as he is and why he's that good a player."
Yzerman scored again on a power play at 13:49. His shot from the
right circle went through the legs of teammate Tomas Holmstrom --
parked in front of the net -- and past Snow.
Fedorov made it 3-0 with 20.9 seconds left in the first when he
skated in with a pass from Igor Larionov, pulled up just outside of
the right goal post and flipped the puck into the net.
Gilchrist scored the lone goal in the second with a backhander
from the right circle on a partial breakaway at 15:02.
"You don't think about getting a goal right away," Gilchrist
said. "You think about getting your speed back to where it needs
to be."
Cassels spoiled Osgood's bid for his second shutout in three
starts by converting a cross-ice pass from Markus Naslund on a
power play 7:17 into the third.
Shanahan answered with his 31st goal, matching last season's
total, to end a pretty three-way play with Martin Lapointe and
Larionov at 13:10.
Bertuzzi scored with 1:46 remaining.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Vancouver Clubhouse
Detroit Clubhouse
Canucks' Mogilny out two weeks with separated shoulder
RECAPS
Montreal 5
Atlanta 1
Detroit 5
Vancouver 2
Florida 3
NY Rangers 0
Buffalo 1
Pittsburgh 1
Boston 3
Toronto 3
Los Angeles 4
Chicago 1
Dallas 3
Nashville 0
Anaheim 6
Calgary 5
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Steve Yzerman scores one of his two first-period goals.
avi: 457 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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