VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- The Detroit Red Wings didn't let distractions surrounding the NHL trade deadline get them down Tuesday.

Justin Abdelkader's power-play goal at 2:31 of overtime gave Detroit a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks.

"It was big for us," Abdelkader said of the win. "We are just going to worry about who is in this room on a nightly basis and the 20 guys that are dressed."

Steve Ott was a healthy scratch, and Detroit subsequently traded him to the Montreal Canadiens during the game for a 2018 sixth-round draft choice. The Red Wings played knowing that he would be moved.

"It's gonna be a big loss for us," said Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg, who had two assists. "He's been huge for us in the locker room (and) on the ice every time he's been playing. He's been a key for a lot of the young guys, too, to look up to. He will be missed."

In overtime, Abdelkader put in Zetterberg's pass from across the slot. Detroit's power play began 47 seconds into the extra session as Brandon Sutter was called for interference while trying to put the Wings offside.

The Red Wings (25-26-10) won in their first game back after a five-day break and posted their third win in four games. The Canucks (26-29-7) took their 10th loss in 14 games.

Frans Nielsen scored Detroit's other two goals, while Markus Granlund and Reid Boucher tallied for the Canucks. Nielsen said the Wings tried to keep things simple.

"We didn't want to do too much coming off a long break like that," he said.

The Wings were good on two of our power plays.

"In the end, we probably won the game on specialty teams," Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said.

Red Wings goaltender Petr Mrazek, who has struggled most of the season, and Canucks counterpart Ryan Miller both posted 25 saves. Detroit outshot Vancouver 28-27.

Ott knew something was up when he was made a healthy scratch, but he did not know he would go to Montreal.

"It's obviously tough," he said. "It's mixed feelings. But it's part of the business. I absolutely loved the opportunity I got here in Detroit -- to say the least."

The Red Wings appear destined to miss the playoffs for the first time in 27 years.

Both teams were sloppy at times but still managed to generate some dangerous chances and keep fans entertained for much of the night.

Nielsen opened the scoring 4:36 into the game as he converted a give-and-go with Andreas Athanasiou. The shot went in off the post behind Miller.

Nielsen notched his second goal of the night on a power play at 11:41 of the opening period. He put in a shot from the slot after being left all alone in front of Vancouver's net.

The Canucks looked disoriented after the trade of Alex Burrows to the Ottawa Senators on Monday disrupted their line combinations. Vancouver was also hampered by the absence of veteran winger Jannik Hansen, who was a healthy scratch and was traded to the San Jose Sharks for Nikolay Goldobin and a conditional 2017 fourth-round draft pick during the game.

Canucks captain Henrik Sedin said it was difficult heading into the game knowing that Hansen was going to be moved.

"You can see our first period wasn't our best," he said. "But after that, I thought we took over the game."

Hansen said, "I enjoyed playing here. My family likes it here. (I have) a lot of very good friends throughout the organization, so it's with a heavy heart that I'm leaving a place like this."

Granlund put the Canucks on the scoreboard at 1:55 of the second as he fired in Daniel Sedin's shot from the corner. Boucher created a 2-2 tie with 2:46 left in regulation time as he took the puck away from Niklas Kronwall near the net, cut under the left faceoff circle and deked Mrazek.

Abelkader's goal put another crimp in Vancouver's playoff hopes.

"It's going to be interesting to see how we react (to the trades)," Henrik Sedin said.

NOTES: F Nikolay Goldobin will join the Canucks in San Jose on Wednesday. ... Earlier Tuesday, the Red Wings traded D Brendan Smith to the New York Rangers for a third-round draft pick in 2017 and a second-round pick in 2018. ... The Canucks returned D Jordan Subban to AHL Utica after players afflicted with symptoms of the mumps showed improvement. D Troy Stecher returned to Vancouver's lineup after missing Saturday's loss to San Jose due to the mumps. He was the lone Canuck who had a confirmed case. F Markus Granlund also returned to Vancouver's lineup after missing the game against San Jose due to mumps-like symptoms. ... Canucks D Nikita Tryamkin, who also displayed symptoms of the mumps, missed his second game in a row.