National Hockey League
Preview
Vancouver at Detroit
When: 12:30 PM ET, Sunday, December 1, 2024
Where: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan

The Vancouver Canucks can clinch a winning record on a six-game road trip with a victory against the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday afternoon.

The Canucks pulled out a 4-3 overtime victory at the Buffalo Sabres on Friday afternoon. Forward Conor Garland delivered his best offensive performance of the season and saved his best for last, backhanding a rebound of defenseman Quinn Hughes' shot in overtime for the game-winning goal.

Garland had two goals and an assist, stretching his point streak to a career-best seven games.

"Hate giving up the lead, but great fight in overtime there just to get another point -- it's a big point for us. It's a tough road trip, but (we are) happy with our start," he said.

Goaltender Kevin Lankinen made 31 saves, including a couple of quality ones in overtime.

"Lanks with that save in overtime, those are big-time plays for you," coach Rick Tocchet said. "Obviously, Gars and Hughes -- Hughes had the puck the whole time in overtime -- you're always looking for key moments from guys and those are key moments. The overall game, there's ebbs and flows. I thought we hung in there. It was a good road game, but the key moments are the big things that stick out for me."

Vancouver has done its best work outside of its home arena. The Canucks are 9-2-0 on the road this season.

The Canucks recorded a win at both Ottawa and Boston to start their current trip. The victory in Buffalo followed a one-goal loss to Pittsburgh. They'll wrap up the road swing at Minnesota on Tuesday.

The Red Wings are coming off a 5-4 home loss to New Jersey on Friday. Their penalty kill unit failed them again as the Devils scored on three power plays. Detroit is last in the league with a penalty kill percentage of 66.2.

Detroit jumped out to a 2-0 lead. The Devils scored on their first power play, then were awarded another on an unsuccessful challenge by Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde. New Jersey converted again.

"On the penalty kill, we take a lot of pride to get it done," forward Tyler Motte said. "We had an opportunity to get out of the first period and have a lead and we didn't get it done."

The Devils increased their lead to 5-3 early in the third period on a four-minute power play. The Red Wings scored 22 seconds later but couldn't produce the tying goal in the final 16 minutes.

"Every team we play, it feels like, has a lot of skilled players," forward Lucas Raymond said. "The Devils have a lot of firepower up front. But if we do what we're supposed to do, we can play against any team. Their power play was a huge part. We had some looks on our power play and we didn't capitalize as much."

Raymond extended his goal streak to five games in the first period, while Motte and Justin Holl scored their first goals of the season.

Vancouver and Detroit split their two-game series last season.

--Field Level Media

Stats and Records
Team Comparison
  W/L Strk Home Away Day Night Div
Vancouver 12-7-2-1 W1 3-5-2-1 9-2-0-0 1-0-0-0 11-7-2-1 4-1-1-0
Detroit 10-11-2-0 L1 5-6-1-0 5-5-1-0 1-3-0-0 9-8-2-0 1-3-0-0
Last Meeting
Vancouver Detroit
Date Away Home Shots Saves PP Shots Saves PP
2/15/24 DET 1 VAN 4 21 27 0-2 28 17 0-5
Player Stats
Previous Matchup
Total Points Player  
Vancouver E. Pettersson 3
Detroit J. Compher 1
Goals Player  
Vancouver E. Lindholm 2
Detroit J. Compher 1
Assists Player  
Vancouver E. Pettersson 3
Detroit C. Fischer 1
Saves Player  
Vancouver T. Demko 27
Detroit A. Lyon 17
Season
Total Points Player  
Vancouver Q. Hughes 29
Detroit L. Raymond 25
Goals Player  
Vancouver J. DeBrusk 11
Detroit D. Larkin 12
Assists Player  
Vancouver Q. Hughes 23
Detroit L. Raymond 16
Saves Player  
Vancouver K. Lankinen 454
Detroit C. Talbot 425
Quickchart Matchup
Vancouver Off vs  Detroit Def
3.23 GF
3.09 GA
26.8 Shots
31.3 Shots
14 PP
22 PK
Detroit Off vs  Vancouver Def
2.57 GF
3.14 GA
24.9 Shots
28 Shots
19 PP
13 PK