Ohlund, Morrison lead Canucks romp
Ohlund, Morrison lead Canucks romp
Canadian Press
10/18/2005 11:47:22 PM
VANCOUVER (CP) - He'd been doing a lot of the little things right but Brendan Morrison finally got the big reward Tuesday night.
Morrison broke a five-game scoreless streak with a goal and two assists to help the Vancouver Canucks get a 6-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.
Defenceman Mattias Ohlund scored twice and Todd Bertuzzi collected three assists as the Canucks extended their win streak to three games before a sellout crowd of 18,630 and improved their record to 5-1-1.
Markus Naslund, defenceman Sami Salo, with his third power-play goal of the season, and Daniel Sedin also scored for the Canucks.
Pavel Vorobiev, on the power play, scored his team-leading fifth goal of the season for the Blackhawks, who lost their second consecutive game. He also assisted on Martin Lapointe's power-play goal.
Morrison, the centre on the Canucks high-octane line of Bertuzzi and Naslund, had been held pointless since a pair of assists in Vancouver's opening game of the season. The drought was beginning weigh like a boulder on his back.
"I'm not going to lie, when you're a guy that is expected to put up numbers offensively and you haven't done it for a few games, it wears on you," said Morrison, who played in his 354-consecutive game, the second longest streak in the NHL.
"You just have to keep pushing for it and know you're going to get chances. Just believe you can do it and bear down when you get the chance."
Bertuzzi, who missed 17 months of hockey for his ugly punch from behind that broke bones in Steve Moore's neck, is also showing shades of his old self. After being held off the scoresheet for three games, the big power forward has collected two goals and three assists in his last three games.
The Canucks are beginning to flex their offensive muscle, scoring 16 goals in their last three games. Bertuzzi said one of the reasons he's contributing is he's moving to different parts of the ice, not just battling in front of the net.
"We have different looks now, which is nice," he said. "After a while it gets stale me sitting there. It's nice to get a change. It's put me in a different spot."
Chicago, playing the last game of four-game road trip, saw its record slipped to 2-5-0.
The Blackhawks outworked the Canucks for the first 22 minutes of the game, but their hard labour was offset by the penalties which have dogged the team like a bloodhound chasing a convict.
The Blackhawks have been shorthanded 60 times, second worst in the NHL, in seven games. Thirteen of the 27 goals Chicago has allowed this year have come off the power play.<
The Canucks were 3-10 with the man advantage Tuesday while Chicago was 2-5.
"We took a couple of penalties that we didn't need to take," said centre Curtis Brown."Hockey is a game of mistakes and in order for us to be successful we just have to limit those."
Defenceman Jaroslav Spacek said the Blackhawks have to play smarter.
"We've just got to be patient and make sure we don't do those stupid penalties in the offensive zone," he said.
Blackhawk goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin had another rough net, allowing six goals on 25 shots.
Canuck goaltender Dan Cloutier faced 26 shots.
Late in the second period Canuck defenceman Ed Jovanovski crumpled to the ice, blood pouring from a cut after being clipped on the face by Matthew Barnaby's stick. Jovanovski went to the dressing room for 10 stitches but returned to earn an assist on Morrison's power-play goal.
NOTES - Chicago rookie Brent Seabrook, who was born in Richmond, B.C., had 60 friends and family in attendance. ...Markus Naslund's parents, visiting from Sweden, attended the game. ....Vancouver's home stand continues with Phoenix Thursday and Colorado Saturday.
Cheers,
Aquaman
Ohlund, Morrison lead Canucks romp
Canadian Press
10/18/2005 11:47:22 PM
VANCOUVER (CP) - He'd been doing a lot of the little things right but Brendan Morrison finally got the big reward Tuesday night.
Morrison broke a five-game scoreless streak with a goal and two assists to help the Vancouver Canucks get a 6-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.
Defenceman Mattias Ohlund scored twice and Todd Bertuzzi collected three assists as the Canucks extended their win streak to three games before a sellout crowd of 18,630 and improved their record to 5-1-1.
Markus Naslund, defenceman Sami Salo, with his third power-play goal of the season, and Daniel Sedin also scored for the Canucks.
Pavel Vorobiev, on the power play, scored his team-leading fifth goal of the season for the Blackhawks, who lost their second consecutive game. He also assisted on Martin Lapointe's power-play goal.
Morrison, the centre on the Canucks high-octane line of Bertuzzi and Naslund, had been held pointless since a pair of assists in Vancouver's opening game of the season. The drought was beginning weigh like a boulder on his back.
"I'm not going to lie, when you're a guy that is expected to put up numbers offensively and you haven't done it for a few games, it wears on you," said Morrison, who played in his 354-consecutive game, the second longest streak in the NHL.
"You just have to keep pushing for it and know you're going to get chances. Just believe you can do it and bear down when you get the chance."
Bertuzzi, who missed 17 months of hockey for his ugly punch from behind that broke bones in Steve Moore's neck, is also showing shades of his old self. After being held off the scoresheet for three games, the big power forward has collected two goals and three assists in his last three games.
The Canucks are beginning to flex their offensive muscle, scoring 16 goals in their last three games. Bertuzzi said one of the reasons he's contributing is he's moving to different parts of the ice, not just battling in front of the net.
"We have different looks now, which is nice," he said. "After a while it gets stale me sitting there. It's nice to get a change. It's put me in a different spot."
Chicago, playing the last game of four-game road trip, saw its record slipped to 2-5-0.
The Blackhawks outworked the Canucks for the first 22 minutes of the game, but their hard labour was offset by the penalties which have dogged the team like a bloodhound chasing a convict.
The Blackhawks have been shorthanded 60 times, second worst in the NHL, in seven games. Thirteen of the 27 goals Chicago has allowed this year have come off the power play.<
The Canucks were 3-10 with the man advantage Tuesday while Chicago was 2-5.
"We took a couple of penalties that we didn't need to take," said centre Curtis Brown."Hockey is a game of mistakes and in order for us to be successful we just have to limit those."
Defenceman Jaroslav Spacek said the Blackhawks have to play smarter.
"We've just got to be patient and make sure we don't do those stupid penalties in the offensive zone," he said.
Blackhawk goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin had another rough net, allowing six goals on 25 shots.
Canuck goaltender Dan Cloutier faced 26 shots.
Late in the second period Canuck defenceman Ed Jovanovski crumpled to the ice, blood pouring from a cut after being clipped on the face by Matthew Barnaby's stick. Jovanovski went to the dressing room for 10 stitches but returned to earn an assist on Morrison's power-play goal.
NOTES - Chicago rookie Brent Seabrook, who was born in Richmond, B.C., had 60 friends and family in attendance. ...Markus Naslund's parents, visiting from Sweden, attended the game. ....Vancouver's home stand continues with Phoenix Thursday and Colorado Saturday.
Cheers,
Aquaman