DETROIT (AP) — Bo Horvat had a lot of family and friends in the crowd Tuesday night and he gave them a lot to cheer about.
Horvat, a native of London, Ontario, which is within easy driving distance of Detroit, scored three of Vancouver’s five goals in the third period for his first career hat trick, and the Canucks rallied from two down for a 5-2 victory over the skidding Red Wings.
“That was great, especially because I had so many friends and family in the crowd to see it,” Horvat said. “Obviously, it couldn’t have come in a bigger situation with us having to come back, so that was a lot of fun.”
Jake Virtanen got the game-winner and Tim Schaller also scored for Vancouver, which has won six of seven. Elias Pettersson, and defensemen Quinn Hughes and Jordie Benn had two assists apiece. Jacob Markstrom stopped 31 shots.
“There was a lot said before the third period and we really came out and tried to come back,” Virtanen said. “We talked this morning about wanting to get this 3-1 trip and we still had a chance. We got the game tied and then we just kept rolling. We had a lot of confidence at that point.”
Anthony Mantha and defenseman Dennis Cholowski scored for Detroit, which lost its fifth in a row. Jimmy Howard made 36 saves.
“We carried the play for two periods. We were the better team, certainly had more chances,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said.
With Detroit on a power play, Tyler Bertuzzi took a tripping penalty with a second remaining in the middle period.
Horvat, the Canucks’ captain, scored two power-play goals in a span of 1:31 early in the third to tie the game at 2. He put in a rebound at 1:42 to capitalize on Bertuzzi’s penalty and tipped in a shot from the point by Hughes at 3:13, with Cholowski in the penalty box for high sticking.
“We knew we had to get one on that first power play in the third and it was huge to get a second one right away,” Horvat said. “I thought we had some great looks in the first two periods, but nothing was going in.”
Virtanen got the winner when his attempted pass from the right circle deflected off the skate of Red Wings defenseman Filip Hronek and past Howard. It was Virtanen’s first goal.
Schaller added his first goal with 5:39 left and Horvat completed his hat trick on an empty-net goal with 1:12 remaining. Horvat has five goals this season.
Mantha’s 5-on-3 power-play goal gave Detroit a 1-0 lead with 3:52 left in the first period. He scored on a one-timer from the top of the right circle. It was Mantha’s seventh goal.
Cholowski made it 2-0 at 9:19 of the second with a 4-on-3 power-play goal. He beat Markstrom with a wrist shot from the right circle. It was Cholowski’s first goal of the season.
NOTES: Vancouver D Quinn Hughes played college hockey at Michigan. … Detroit recalled forward Evgeny Svechnikov from Grand Rapids of the AHL and sent D Alex Biega to the same team. The Red Wings acquired Biega in a trade with the Canucks on Oct. 6.
UP NEXT
Canucks: Host the Washington Capitals on Friday.
Red Wings: At the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday.
