Special teams shine for Canucks
Canadian Press
11/21/2002
VANCOUVER (CP) _ Markus Naslund provided the finish with two power-play goals but seemed more relieved that his Vancouver Canucks got off to a good start Wednesday against the Chicago Blackhawks.
``That's going to be a huge factor for us the rest of the season,'' Naslund said after Trevor Linden's club record-tying goal and Matt Cooke's short-handed effort staked Vancouver to a 2-0 lead 3:09 into a 5-3 victory.
``We talked about it and it's nice to see us come out with a lot more jump.''
The Canucks won their fifth in a row and their fourth straight at home but got a total of only 12 shots on goal in the opening periods of the three previous games.
On Wednesday they scored on three of seven power plays and the fiesty Cooke, playing with a full face shield after taking a puck on the cheekbone Saturday, added to Vancouver's success on special teams.
``It shows the character of Matt to come in and still play his game,'' said Naslund who scored the winning and insurance goals for a team-leading 12.
``He's an important guy. He plays that in-your-face game that you need.''
Brendan Morrison also scored with the man advantage for the Canucks but Vancouver couldn't hold a pair of two-goal leads in the second period.
Linden's third goal of the season was his 262nd in a Canuck uniform, tying the club record for career goals set by Stan Smyl. Linden has 319 goals in his 15-year career while all of Smyl's goals came in a Vancouver uniform.
Steve Sullivan, Eric Daze, with his first of the year after missing 15 games due to back surgery for a herniated disk, and Tyler Arnason drew the Blackhawks to 4-3 after 40 minutes.
Defensive zone giveaways were costly for the Canucks. Daze scored 49 seconds after Vancouver took a 3-1 lead and Arnason got his goal 14 seconds after the Canucks made it 4-2.
While the Canucks have won seven of eight games in November, the Blackhawks lost their second game in as many nights after winning four times during a six-game unbeaten streak.
They continued to be burned by special teams play as the Hawks surrendered two first-period short-handed goals in a 3-1 loss to the Oilers in Edmonton on Tuesday.
``We stayed in the game and kept battling back but as it turned out, there was one penalty too many at the end,'' said Chicago coach Brian Sutter.
Backup goalie Steve Passmore faced 35 shots as his third start of the season for Chicago was far from memorable.
``I could pick a better way to start or better first shots, no question,'' said Passmore.
``Then it turned into a game where if we made a mistake, it seemed they capitalized. Good teams do that, especially teams that are playing well right now.''
Linden, recently honoured for playing 1,000 NHL games, said the Canucks have simplified their game after struggling at home in October.
``We've established a good foundation and from that we've been able to make some nicer plays. We're seeing more skating, more puck movement. The power play is better because we've established the shot and all those things come from being simple.''
While the Canucks entered the game with the NHL's top penalty-killing record, Morrison said the club is energized by its recent power-play success.
``A lot of times you can make the plays and the finish isn't there but the puck's going in for us now and we're getting scoring from a lot of different guys,'' said Morrison who scored his third goal in two games.
``We've got confidence on the power play and other teams are aware of our power play so we get respect that way.''
NOTES: The Blackhawks play the third of their seven-game road trip Saturday in Calgary while the Canucks end their five-game homestand Friday against the Detroit Red Wings ... Passmore started in goal for Chicago after a puck hit Jocelyn Thibault on the collarbone Tuesday night in Edmonton ... Jarkko Ruutu dressed for only the fourth time and Mats Lindgren for the third time for Vancouver as Artem Chubarov and Todd Warriner were scratched by the Canucks ... Chicago had a 2-1-1 edge in the teams' four-game series last season.
Cheers,
Aquaman