Canucks crushed in Minnesota
Associated Press
2/19/2004
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Marc Chouinard scored two goals to lead the Minnesota Wild in a 6-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.
Marian Gaborik, Andrew Brunette and Antti Laaksonen each had a goal and an assist, and Alex Henry added the first goal of his NHL career for the Wild, who got 26 saves from Dwayne Roloson.
Laaksonen scored on a penalty shot in the first period.
The Canucks outshot the Wild 28-22, but Minnesota had the better scoring chances. The Wild scored three times in both the first and second periods against the Canucks, who have lost four of five games.
Vancouver goaltender Dan Cloutier, coming off a shutout at Colorado, gave up four goals on 10 shots before being replaced by Johan Hedberg in the second period. Todd Bertuzzi and Mattias Ohlund scored for the Canucks.
Minnesota, trying to push for the final playoff spot in the West, has scored 10 goals in its last two games.
Chouinard gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead off a pretty pass from Andrei Zyuzin at 3:56 of the first period.
The Wild started gaining steam on Laaksonen's penalty shot with 5:05 left in the period. With Vancouver on a power play, Laaksonen got the puck in the neutral zone and streaked toward the net, but was dragged down from behind by Mike Keane.
On the penalty shot, Laaksonen deked left, brought the puck back right and backhanded it over Cloutier's pads, drawing a loud ovation.
Less than five minutes later, Brunette made it 3-0 on a wraparound.
Bertuzzi's power-play goal at 1:37 of the second pulled the Canucks to 3-1.
But Chouinard answered with his second goal. He tipped in a backhanded pass from Alexandre Daigle to give the Wild a 4-1 lead and send Cloutier to the bench.
Two nights after scoring three times at New Jersey, Gaborik assisted on Henry's goal at 7:43 of the second, then added an impressive score of his own for just his 10th goal of the season.
After taking a long pass from Laaksonen, Gaborik fought off Brent Sopel and backhanded a shot from just below the right circle into the upper left corner.
Notes: The all-time series between the teams is tied 8-8-4. ... Wild LW Matt Johnson received a five-minute match penalty for slashing Canucks C Matt Cooke, who was assessed a 10-minute misconduct for roughing in the fray. Cooke and Johnson, two old rivals from last year's playoffs, argued most of the night. ... Just like they did at the all-star game earlier this month, the Minnesota crowd booed Bertuzzi - another hated foe from last year's second-round playoff series - every time he touched the puck.
Cheers,
Aquaman