DETROIT - It was a night to forget for both goaltenders.

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Detroit Red Wings rightwing Dan Cleary (L) scores against Vancouver Canucks goalie Curtis Sanfors and defenseman Willie Mitchell (2nd L) during the second period of their NHL hockey game in Detroit, Michigan December 4, 2008.

Photograph by : Reuters

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With any shot seeming capable of going in, the Detroit Red Wings outlasted the Vancouver Canucks 6-5 Thursday.

"That was exciting post-lockout hockey, isn't it?" said Detroit coach Mike Babcock after watching goalie Chris Osgood surrender five goals on 25 shots. "Last shot wins.

"Tomorrow when I get up in the morning and look in the paper, it's going to be beautiful. It's just a good thing they didn't get any more shots.''

The Red Wings used a three-goal blitz early in the third period to build a 6-3 lead before hanging on.

Derek Meech, with his first career NHL goal, and Nick Lidstrom scored 40 seconds apart beginning at 3:23 of the third period. Dan Cleary added his fourth of the season less than two minutes later to send goalie Curtis Sanford to the bench for Cory Schneider.

Detroit needed every one of those goals after Henrik Sedin and Alex Burrows made it a very nervous ending for the Wings.

"That's not what we expected in the game," said Canucks centre Kyle Wellwood, who scored a power-play goal. "Once the score starts climbing like that, you've got to open it up. 

"They got a nice goal to take the lead. We started to gamble a bit and they were able to push the score. We gambled even more and were able to get two back and we ended up with an 11-goal game."

The loss is Vancouver's fourth straight, a season-high for the Canucks, and the visitors were annoyed with themselves for letting a pair of leads slip away

The Canucks' Taylor Pyatt opened the scoring 1:35 into the game, but Vancouver conceded a pair of Jiri Hudler goals to close out the period. Hudler has eight goals in the past nine games.

Wellwood and Mason Raymond scored early in the second period for Vancouver, but Cleary made the score 3-3 after 40 minutes by tipping in Nick Lidstrom's shot.

That set the stage for a wild final period.

"It seemed like they were coming at us in waves at the beginning of the third," said Sanford, who faced 33 shots before he was yanked.

"They have skilled players and we might have given them a little bit too much room out there at times."

Windsor Star

dwaddell@thestar.canwest.com