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Detroit Red Wings take win vs. Oilers into All-Star break

EDMONTON, Alberta — Jimmy Howard showed All-Star form in his last game before headed to the event. The Detroit Red Wings turned a good start into a lead — they’ve done that before as they’ve trekked across Western Canada. Tuesday at Rogers Place they managed to keep the lead, holding off the Edmonton Oilers, 3-2, to go into the nine-day All-Star/bye week break on a winning note. Luke Glendening contributed two goals. Dylan Larkin got the scoring started. Glendening’s second goal came after the Oilers had just cut into Detroit’s lead, and was one of just two shots on net the Wings through the first 12 minutes of the third period. Jimmy Howard came through with 12 saves during the same stretch as the Oilers pressed. The Wings faced a third penalty kill with 6:43 to go in regulation after a blatant crosscheck by Mike Green on Darnell Nurse. Howard made four saves during that kill, among 17 shots the Oilers had in the third period. Matt Benning pulled the Oilers within one with 2:26 to play off a nice pass from Leon Draisaitl. The Wings shot wide on three open-net attempts. The Wings started well, getting the jump on the Oilers and earning consistent offensive-zone time. Frans Nielsen was denied on a deflection attempt that drew the Wings to a 6-2 edge in shots. A power play at 12:30 almost turned into a disaster, though, as Kyle Brodziak turned an Anthony Mantha turnover into a chance against Jimmy Howard. Connor McDavid also got a shot, but his went off a goal post. The only good spot for the Wings was Andreas Athanasiou blazing to the net and try a backhand shot. Dylan Larkin almost scored in the waning seconds of the first period but Draisaitlbailed out his goalie and cleared the puck from the crease. Larkin succeeded in putting the puck in Edmonton’s net four minutes into the second period, angling a shot from the bottom of the right circle. That put him at 21 goals on the season, with 31 games still to go. His career high is 23 goals, dating to his rookie season, when he played wing on a line centered by Henrik Zetterberg. It was Larkin’s third goal on this trip — he had two at Calgary — and eighth point dating back five games. The Wings headed off this trip on a two-game winning streak built on closing out Minnesota and Anaheim in the third period. They came into the Oilers game on a two-game losing streak, having blown third-period leads at Calgary and Vancouver. They had another third-period lead going, as Luke Glendening put them up by two when he scored off a rush midway through the second period. Draisaitl pulled the Oilers within one 4:31 into the third period when the puck came right to him as he was by the right side of the net. Glendening buffered the cushion two minutes later when he managed to slide the puck beneath Mikko Koskinen. Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Check out our Red Wings Xtra app on Apple and Android !