Detroit's victory is lights out

THE STREAKING Detroit Red Wings were able to laugh about a power outage at aging Joe Louis Arena.

Pavel Datsyuk scored twice and Detroit beat the visiting Vancouver Canucks, 5-3, yesterday for their fourth straight victory.

About a third of Joe Louis Arena went dark 29 seconds into the game after a minor power failure. The game was delayed 33 minutes.

"That's the beauty of the Joe," the Wings' Niklas Kronwall said of the arena that opened in 1980. "It's been around for a long time. It's kind of the charm of it. You never know what's going to happen."

Kronwall, Danny DeKeyser and Gustav Nyquist also scored, Henrik Zetterberg had two assists and Jimmy Howard made 30 saves for Detroit.

Linden Vey scored twice for Vancouver.

* Hall of Famer Gordie Howe had another ministroke Saturday at his daughter's home in Texas, according to son Mark Howe, who said he is doing better overall than he was several weeks ago when he had a massive stroke.

"We were able to get rid of his back pain, so basically he's kind of resting comfortably," said Mark Howe, the former Flyer who also is in the Hall of Fame. "I'd say he probably has more good days than bad days. I mean, it's hard. He's not walking. Speech is extremely, extremely difficult. He knows what we're saying. He understands what's going on. When you're there with him you can interact, it's still a nice thing."