National Hockey League
Detroit 5, Minnesota 2
When: 8:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 12, 2019
Where: Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul, Minnesota
Referees: Francis Charron, Francois St. Laurent
Linesmen: Shandor Alphonso, Brandon Gawryletz
Attendance: 19087

A career night from Tyler Bertuzzi helped the Detroit Red Wings earn something positive in an otherwise negative stretch.

Bertuzzi scored his first career hat trick to help Detroit earn a 5-2 win over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday in Saint Paul, Minn.

The Red Wings won for just the second time in 11 games and also cooled off a Wild team that had won four of its previous five games.

Detroit dominated, outshooting the Wild by 37-19 margin.

After allowing a goal 13 seconds into the game against Winnipeg on Friday, the Red Wings pulled that trick on the Wild, scoring 24 seconds into the game to take a 1-0 lead.

Bertuzzi camped himself near the front of the Minnesota goal and tipped home a shot from the point by Gustav Nyquist.

The Wild answered later in the first period, tying the score at 1-1 with 3:00 left in the first on a goal by Luke Kunin, who skated in on a partial breakaway and beat Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard on the stick side.

It was Kunin's first goal of the season.

The teams started off the second period with a bang, with each scoring in the first minute.

Just 17 seconds into the second, Minnesota took a 2-1 lead on a power-play goal by Nino Niederreiter but Detroit answered 28 seconds later on a goal by Thomas Vanek that tied the score at 2-2.

Detroit then took a 3-2 lead with 4:50 left in the second period on another goal by Vanek, who fired home a shot from the top of the faceoff circles.

Only 47 seconds into the third period, Bertuzzi netted his second goal of the game, tipping home a shot from the point to give Detroit a 4-2 lead.

Bertuzzi then scored his third goal later in the third, walking out in front of the Minnesota goal and lifting a backhand underneath the crossbar to make it 5-2 Red Wings with 11:22 left in the game.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Detroit   Minnesota
Tyler Bertuzzi 3 Points Luke Kunin 1
Tyler Bertuzzi 3 Goals Luke Kunin 1
Dylan Larkin 3 Assists Mikko Koivu 1
N/A Power Play Goals Nino Niederreiter 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Jimmy Howard .889 Save Percentage Devan Dubnyk .865
Jimmy Howard 16 Saves Devan Dubnyk 32
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Detroit 37 5 0-4 2-3 6 33
Minnesota 18 2 1-3 4-4 8 26
Upcoming Games
  • Minnesota will play their next game on the road against Philadelphia. The Wild have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .500 after a loss.
  • Detroit will play their next game at home against Anaheim. The Red Wings have a W/L % of .412 after a win and .333 after a loss.