Red Wings coast to 5-1 win over Utah, snap six-game road skid

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Alex Lyon made 16 saves in relief of injured starter Petr Mrazek, powering the Detroit Red Wings to a 5-1 victory over the Utah Hockey Club on Monday night.

Lyon took over at goalie after Mrazek exited just 1:38 into the game with an apparent lower body injury. Dylan Guenther collided with Mrazek in the net at the tail end of a breakaway shot attempt. Mrazek limped off the ice after the play and went straight to the locker room.

Elmer Soderblom, Marco Kasper, Austin Watson, Alex DeBrincat and Tyler Motte all scored to help Detroit snap a six-game skid away from home.

Guenther reached 100 career points, scoring his 26th goal of the season for Utah. Karel Vejmelka made nine stops in his career-high 14th straight start.

Utah took a 1-0 lead at the 3:46 of the first on Guenther’s power-play goal. Soderblom equalized on a slap shot just 82 seconds later.

A fortunate bounce put the Red Wings ahead at the 1:34 mark of the second. Kasper snapped the puck toward Lawson Crouse and it careened off his leg and into the net.

Watson, DeBrincat and Motte scored in the third period for Detroit. It was DeBrincat’s 33rd goal of the season.

Takeaways

Red Wings: Detroit defended the power play well, going 4 for 5 on the penalty kill.

Utah: Clayton Keller, who assisted on Guenther’s goal, has an NHL best 21 power-play assists and 27 power-play points since Dec. 8.

Key moment

Kasper’s shot bouncing off Crouse’s leg for a goal turned momentum squarely in Detroit’s favor over the final two periods.

Key stat

The Red Wings totaled only five shots on goal through the first two periods.

Up next

Detroit is at Colorado on Tuesday. Utah is at Tampa Bay on Thursday.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl