Canucks rebound with win over Avalanche
Associated Press
12/29/2003
DENVER (AP) - Mike Keane scored with 4:35 left in the third period to lead the Vancouver Canucks to a 3-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night.
Goaltender Dan Cloutier stopped 34 shots for the Northwest Division-leading Canucks, who rallied from a 2-0 deficit.
David Aebischer had 24 saves for Colorado, which got two first-period goals from Steve Konowalchuk.
Todd Bertuzzi tied the game with a power-play goal at 8:48 of the third. Bertuzzi scored from just inside the left circle after taking a pass from Brendan Morrison.
Keane got the winning goal on a 3-on-1 break. His centring pass from the right side appeared to deflect off a Colorado defender's skate.
Colorado pulled Aebischer with 1:56 remaining but he had to return moments later after Colorado's Peter Forsberg punched Cloutier and went off for roughing.
Colorado jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first on Konowalchuk's goals. But Vancouver's Matt Cooke made it 2-1 late in the period.
Just 17 seconds in, Konowalchuk, stationed in front of the crease, redirected Derek Morris's point shot for his ninth goal.
Konowalchuk then deflected John-Michael Liles' shot at 15:11.
At 17:29, Cooke took a loose puck near centre ice and scored a short-handed goal on a breakaway.
Aebischer made a sprawling save off Bertuzzi early in the period.
A scoreless second included Cloutier's save off Konowalchuk on a 2-on-1 rush.
Notes: The teams meet again Friday in Vancouver . . . It was the first of four straight divisional games in seven days for Colorado . . . The Canucks were coming off their worst loss of the season, 6-2 to Edmonton on Saturday night.
Cheers,
Aquaman