Nedeljkovic makes 43 saves, Red Wings shut out Canucks

VANCOUVER -- Alex Nedeljkovic made 43 saves to help the Detroit Red Wings end a six-game skid with a 1-0 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Thursday.

Pius Suter scored for the Red Wings (25-29-7), who were 0-5-1 in their previous six games.
"It's big. It's one that we can look back on as the year goes on now and kind of tell ourselves we can play in these low-scoring kind of games," Nedeljkovic said. "We can play good defense and I think we did play some really good defense tonight. We gave up some chances, but they got some high-end players so they're going to get their chances and tonight pucks were hitting me."
It was the second shutout of the season and fifth in the NHL for Nedeljkovic, who was 1-5-1 in his previous seven decisions.
"It's been a hard stretch and certainly it's not all on his shoulders," coach Jeff Blashill said. "It's a team thing, but it's been a hard stretch for sure and so for him to come out, I thought he was in total command of his game. I thought he played the puck really well. I thought pucks stuck to him. I thought he found the puck through traffic well and he made big saves at big moments."

Thatcher Demko made 34 saves for the Canucks (30-25-7), who have lost three of their past four games (1-2-1). Vancouver forward J.T. Miller had his point streak end at 13 games (27 points; eight goals, 19 assists).
"The goalie played good, there's no doubt about that, but that first period might have been our worst period all year, including the games we gave up five goals," coach Bruce Boudreau said. "We must have given the puck away 25 times. That gave them the confidence to play. If you step on them early, they probably say 'Oh, here we go again.' But we didn't. We gave them a chance."
Suter scored at 8:09 of the second period on a 2-on-1 with Vladislav Namestnikov that started as a shorthanded rush out of their own end and ended as the penalty expired. Namestnikov sent Suter in alone in tight and he appeared to be trying to pass it back, but the puck hit Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes' stick and deflected between the legs of Demko.
"It was a good start and some of that is you get to save too," Blashill said. "He made a big save early and it allows us to find a way to score first and then stay with it."

Vancouver was 0-for-3 on the power play against a Red Wings penalty kill that came into the game ranked 31st in the NHL at 72.7 percent and had given up 10 goals on 17 chances over the previous seven games.
"The penalty kill was huge," Nedeljkovic said. "We didn't give them a lot of great looks."
Detroit outshot the Canucks 18-12 in the first period, but Vancouver outshot the Red Wings 31-17 over the final two.
"At the halfway point, we started playing good and created plenty of chances to score," Vancouver center Elias Pettersson said. "We've just got to bury them. It's one of those days when you just have to tip your hat to the other goalie. We've got to find a way to put the puck in the net."
The Red Wings had pulled their starting goalie in four of their previous eight games, but Nedeljkovic set the tone early with a glove save off Conor Garland in the slot 36 seconds into the game. He stopped Bo Horvat on a first period breakaway, denied Tanner Pearson from point blank range four minutes into and with four minutes left in the second, and sprawled to stop Garland on another breakaway with 35 seconds left in the second.
"Just try to be patient as you can, try not to bite and if you can outwait them and take away some time and space, you make it more difficult on them," Nedeljkovic said. "I felt good these last few weeks, honestly. It's a combination of maybe trying a little too hard, being a little too hard on myself, not getting a few balances here and there, but I felt really good tonight."
NOTES:Detroit defenseman Nick Leddy, who had been playing on the top pair, was a healthy scratch and Blashill said it was a management decision. Leddy can become an unrestricted free agent after the season and could be traded before the NHL Trade Deadline on Monday. … Vancouver forward Nils Hoglander missed the game with a lower-body injury sustained in practice on Wednesday and isn't expected to play in back-to-back games over the weekend. … Pettersson returned after missing two games with an upper-body injury and was minus-1 in 21:39 of ice time. … Only two Red Wings goalies have made more saves in a shutout since 1954-55: Terry Sawchuk, who made 50 saves on Nov. 14, 1959, in a 4-0 win at the New York Rangers; and Glenn Hall, who made 44 saves on March 1, 1956, in a 2-0 victory at the Boston Bruins.