DETROIT -- There's one kind of goaltender that every hockey coach desires … an inactive goalie.
Don't let the other team shoot. Don't let the other team score.
The Detroit Red Wings outshot the Vancouver Canucks, 39-15, Wednesday, in taking a 3-2 victory at Joe Louis Arena. The season-low total of shots allowed was the fifth time in 10 games that the Red Wings have allowed 21 or fewer shots on goal.
And that makes everyone in Hockeytown happy except for one lonesome soul.
"You don't like to play games like that because you feel like you cannot get into the game," said Detroit netminder Dominik Hasek, who had time during the game to come up with a humorous slant on his evening. "During timeouts, I took the puck and looked at the puck. I don't see the puck too much in front of me, so I just put the puck in front of the crease and just looked at it. 'Be sure you stop it the next time you see it'."
One thing that Hasek never saw last night was a Vancouver lead. The Canucks had three power plays in the first 17 minutes of play, but were outshot 2-1 by Detroit during those six minutes.
Then with 2:26 on the first-period clock, Matt Ellis scored his second goal in three games, giving him a four-game point streak and Detroit a 1-0 lead. Ellis set up shop for a high screen with Tomas Kopecky cutting to the net down low. Mikael Samuelsson fed the puck to Ellis, who had defenseman Lukas Krajicek on his back. At the same time, Kopecky, Alexandre Burrows and goalie Roberto Luongo all got to the same spot at the same time with the trio sliding away from the net together. Ellis sent a turnaround shot that went just inside the post.
"The points are a bonus," said Ellis. "As long as the team's winning, I'm just having fun playing hockey."
Then 2:23 into the second period, Tomas Holmstrom scored a power-play goal to double the Red Wings' advantage. Holmstrom deflected Brian Rafalski's shot past Luongo.
At that point, Detroit held a 14-4 advantage in shots on goal. Hasek spent most of his energy applauding the two goals.
Vancouver scored 3:10 after Holmstrom's goal on the Canucks' fifth shot of the game. Matt Cooke's shot from the high slot deflected off Kris Draper's stick and in.
But before the second period was through, Detroit retook a two-goal lead.
Pavel Datsyuk stymied Vancouver defenseman Willie Mitchell as he rounded behind the net. The puck kicked loose to Henrik Zetterberg, who sent a pass across the crease to Holmstrom for a slam dunk.
"They make it easy for me," Holmstrom said of his linemates Datsyuk and Zetterberg. "I'm playing with probably the two best players in the NHL. They hold onto the puck and I know sooner or later the puck is coming at me."
That goal tied Holmstrom with Zetterberg for the team lead with seven. Another category that Holmstrom leads the team in this season is goalie interference, being called for his fifth such infraction in the first period.
Vancouver drew to within 3-2 1:47 into the third period when Daniel Sedin beat Dan Cleary to a loose puck and flipped it up over Hasek for a power-play marker.
That, however, was as close as the Canucks could get.
"All I can say it was one of the games where you don't see too much action in front of you, not too many saves," said Hasek. "However, they scored two goals and the game was close until the very end. … I know I can play a little better, but I won the game and that's the most important."
The Red Wings are 7-2-1 and host San Jose, Friday night.