Official: Vancouver Canucks W00T

[sandorski]

woohoo, Park 5-3

 

[sandorski]

:|

loss

 

[silverpig]

 

[clickynext]

:'(

 

[Aquaman]

Avs snap Canucks home unbeaten streak

Canadian Press
11/11/2005 1:37:07 AM

VANCOUVER (CP) - Ian Laperriere knew a four-goal lead wasn't going to be enough against the Vancouver Canucks.

Laperriere, and the rest of the Colorado Avalanche, heaved a sigh of relief when Karlis Skrastins scored a shorthanded goal midway through the third period to give the Avs a 5-3 win Thursday night that snapped Vancouver's seven-game home unbeaten streak.

Colorado stormed out to the early lead then had to weather a string of third-period penalties.

"It's going to be like that all year," said Laperriere, who had a goal and assist for the Avs, who beat Vancouver for the third consecutive time this season.

"It won't be easy. Teams are taking leads and the other team comes back. With the new rules they call everything. You get a couple of power-plays against you and it turns around pretty quick. It makes it exciting for everyone."

Laperriere smiled and shrugged when asked if the game was maybe too exciting for Colorado. The Avs took four consecutive penalties in the third period and played two men short for 41 seconds.

"We got ahead and maybe we got too confident," he said."We took those penalties because we stopped working."

Vancouver finished the night one-for-seven on the power play while Colorado was 0-6.

Antti Laaksonen also had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche, who improved their record to 9-4-2 and move to within two points of Vancouver for the lead in the Northwest Division.

Also scoring for the Avs was Joe Sakic and Marek Svatos.

Todd Bertuzzi, on a pretty tic-tac-toe play, defenceman Ed Jovanovski, with his fourth power-play goal of the season, and Richard Park, late in the third, scored for Vancouver.

Markus Naslund and Brendan Morrison had two assists each for the Canucks, who have lost three in a row and five of their last seven games. Vancouver's record drops to 10-6-2.

"We lost it in the first period, plain and simple," said Bertuzzi who scored his second goal in as many games.

"No one in the room was ready to play which is not good when you're playing a team like that. They came out and outworked us in the first and that just can't happen.

"We were just coming off two losses (to Calgary). We've got to be a little bit more desperate than that. It's everyone in the room. Not a couple of guys to blame, it's everyone."

A sellout crowd of 18,630 booed the Canucks off the ice after the first period after being outshot 18-5. Vancouver didn't get a shot on goal until the game was over seven minutes old.

Some strong play by Bertuzzi in the second period resulted in a reversal of fortune for Vancouver. The Canucks climbed back into the game with a pair of goals and outshot the Avs 14-3.

"It was like almost three different games," said Colorado goaltender David Aebischer, who stopped 25 shots for his career-best seventh consecutive win.

"In the first 20 minutes we dominated them. In the second it was the other way around. In the third period we had a couple too many penalties which gave them some more chances."<

There was an eerie similarity between the game and the ugly March 8, 2004, match where Bertuzzi attacked then Colorado forward Steve Moore from behind. That resulted in the Harvard grad suffering two broken bones in his neck and leaving his hockey career in question.

The Avs led 5-0 after the first period in that game.

As has happened in the four previous games between the two teams this year, none of the Avs made any attempt to take any revenge on Bertuzzi.

While none of the Canucks had a good first period it was a horrible 20 minutes for Jovanovski, Vancouver's all-star defenceman. His giveaway led to Laperriere's's opening goal just 46 seconds into the game.

Just over five minutes later Jovanovski coughed up the puck at the Canuck blue line, then fell down. That led to a two-on-nothing breakaway where Steve Konowalchuk feathered a pass that Svatos put into the net.

"The first period it wasn't the way we wanted to start," said Jovanovski.

"It was really stressful."

NOTES - Canuck goaltender Dan Cloutier, who missed five games with a concussion, dressed as the backup. ...Defenceman Steve McCarthy sat out the game with a sore groin. He was replaced by Sven Butenschon, called up from the AHL Manitoba Moose. ...Coming into the game Trevor Linden had one goal in 16 games.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[Aquaman]

Red Wings take road show to Vancouver

The Sports Network
11/13/2005 10:37:13 AM

(Sports Network) - Back on track, the Detroit Red Wings seek their fourth consecutive victory tonight when they visit the Vancouver Canucks at GM Place.

The Wings had lost two straight games (0-1-1) since their nine-game winning streak, but have since won three in a row.

On Friday, Brendan Shanahan scored his team-leading 10th goal of the season and Manny Legace made 16 saves as the Red Wings knocked off the Minnesota Wild, 3-1, at Joe Louis Arena. Jason Williams and Johan Franzen netted the other goals for Detroit.

Legace, who returned to action earlier in the week from a sprained knee that sidelined him for three games, is now 12-1 on the season.

Detroit enters tonight's tilt 7-0-0 on the road this season and hasn't suffered a regular season road loss since March 23, 2004 (won final three road games in 2003-04). The Wings have outscored opponents by a 34-10 margin in their away games this season.

Mike Babcock's team will visit Calgary on Wednesday.

Vancouver, meanwhile, has lost three consecutive games. On Thursday the Canucks dropped a 5-3 contest to visiting Colorado. The Avalanche got started early, netting four goals in the first period.

Ed Jovanovski and Todd Bertuzzi scored for the Canucks, who lost for the first time at home this season (7-1-0) and failed to break the franchise record for the most consecutive home victories to start a campaign. Brendan Morrison and Markus Naslund both finished with two assists for the Canucks.

Alexander Auld allowed five goals on 30 shots in the loss. Regular starter Dan Cloutier was available as a backup on Thursday and hasn't played in five straight games due to a concussion. Cloutier will likely start this evening.

Vancouver will visit San Jose on Wednesday.

The Canucks defeated the Red Wings, 4-2, on October 10 and have won three of the last four meetings.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[tyler811]

:thumbsup:

 

[Aquaman]

Bertuzzi's hat trick clips Red Wings

Canadian Press
11/14/2005 1:32:03 AM

VANCOUVER (CP) - Todd Bertuzzi showed glimpses of what he's capable of doing on the ice.

Bertuzzi scoring three goals against one of the league's best goalies to give the Vancouver Canucks a 4-1 win Sunday night and hand the Detroit Red Wings their first road loss of the NHL season.

The sellout crowd of 18,630 littered the ice with hats when Bertuzzi scored off a backhand on a breakaway, beating Detroit goalie Manny Legace on the glove side, at 15:01 of the second period.

''I'm getting a little bit more puck luck,'' said Bertuzzi, who has goals in his last three games, giving him seven on the season, after going nine games without scoring.

''The chances were there and I just wasn't putting them away before. I was fortunate enough to get a handful of good chances tonight.''

Legace, who came into the game with a league-low 1.87 goals-against average, said Bertuzzi can make a good goaltender look very average.

''He's done it to a lot better goalies than me but he was on fire tonight,'' said Legace, whose 12-2-0 record is still best in the NHL.

''On the first one, he just kept banging at it. On the second one, he just made a good move. On the third one, he fired a rocket backhand.''

Bertuzzi's best game of the season couldn't have come at a better time for the Canucks. They had lost their last three games and five of their previous seven.

''It was good Detroit was the next game up,'' said Bertuzzi, who received a thunderous cheer when he was named the game's first star.

''Those are games we take very serious and they are always good opponents of ours. They are more enjoyable games. They are more suited to our style.''

It was Bertuzzi's first three-goal night since March 17, 2003, against Dallas and the fourth of his career.

The big power forward, who served a 17-month suspension for his March 8, 2004, punch from behind that broke bones in Steve Moore's neck, started the season slowly. Noted for his speed and brute strength, he sometimes played like a lamb instead of a lion, often electing to pass the puck instead of driving the net.

He shrugged when asked if the Todd Bertuzzi of old was back.

''I just beat by my own drum,'' said Bertuzzi, who followed up his 46-goal season in 2002-03 with just 17 in 63 games before being suspended in 2004.

''I do what I've got to do to get myself better. People can say what ever they want and so be it. I'll just continue to work hard and hopefully it continues to get better.''

Anson Carter also scored for the Canucks, who improved their record to 11-5-2 and moved back into first place in the Northwest Division, two points ahead of the Calgary Flames.

Pavel Datsyuk scored for the Red Wings, who were unbeaten in seven road games. It was Detroit's first lost in three games but the Red Wings 15-3-1 record is still best in the NHL.<

On Bertuzzi's first goal, linemate Markus Naslund took a shot that Legace blocked. Battling in front of the net, Bertuzzi fished the rebound off Legace's pad, then put it in the net.

Bertuzzi's second goal showed both his power and finesse. Defenceman Nolan Baumgartner hit him with a cross-ice, tape-to-tape pass. Bertuzzi skated in on goal, used his body to fight off a Detroit defenceman, then deked Legace to score.

Canucks goaltender Dan Cloutier made 34 saves, playing in his first game since suffering a concussion Oct. 29 in Denver. He looked sharp, robbing Tomas Holmstrom a couple times and making a great stop of Jiri Fischer in the third period, when Vancouver was outshot 14-1.

''I felt good out there,'' said Cloutier.

''I got some shots early to get me involved and after that I had shots pretty continually to keep me in the game.''

NOTES - The Canucks called up Josh Green and Nathan Smith from their AHL farm team in Manitoba for the game. ...Defenceman Steve McCarthy missed his second game with a groin injury. ...Richard Park's goal against Colorado Thursday was his first in 10 games. ...The Canucks head out on the road for games in San Jose on Wednesday, L.A. on Thursday and Anaheim Sunday.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[clickynext]

w00t go canucks! Park with a short hander, and two late goals for the 3-1 win!

 

[Aquaman]

Canucks snap skid with win over Sharks

Associated Press
11/17/2005 2:05:00 AM

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Ed Jovanovski and Anson Carter figured the best place to solve the Vancouver Canucks' road woes was right in front of the San Jose Sharks' net.

Jovanovski scored the go-ahead, power-play goal with 9:45 remaining, and the Canucks snapped a four-game road losing streak with a 3-1 victory over the slumping Sharks on Wednesday night.

Carter added another power-play goal with 6:07 left from a similar spot directly in front of Evgeni Nabokov. The Canucks were 7-for-65 on the power play on the road this season before scoring twice in a busy third period.

''In the new NHL, it's a little harder to move you once you get in front of the net,'' Carter said. ''We made a pretty conscious effort to get in front and try to score from there. We were able to match their intensity early, and we got some big chances late.''

Just 14 seconds after Wayne Primeau went to the penalty box for hooking, Jovanovski drove the net and deflected Brendan Morrison's crossing pass underneath Nabokov for the defenceman's fifth goal of the season - the 300th point of his career.

On another power play 3:38 later, Carter was left unchecked while he batted a rebound past Nabokov, who stopped 21 shots in his second game back from a three-week absence with a shoulder injury.

Richard Park scored Vancouver's first short-handed goal of the season in the first period. Dan Cloutier made 24 saves - 12 in the third period - and the Canucks got a confidence-boosting win on the first stop of a three-game California road trip.

''If we can bottle that third period and take it with us to L.A. (Thursday night), we'll be all right,'' Vancouver coach Marc Crawford said. ''It's nice to come into this place, where it's very difficult to play, and get a win. The second period was all Sharks, and I liked the way we responded.''

Marcel Goc scored for the Sharks, who lost their fourth straight despite playing just once in the previous seven days. With six of its next eight games on the road, San Jose is off to a disappointing 8-8-2 start after making no significant off-season additions to a young team that reached the conference finals in 2004.

''The special teams (woes) are what you see, but it's what's leading up to it,'' said San Jose coach Ron Wilson, who particularly criticized the passing of defenceman Brad Stuart. ''Why did we make the plays leading up to when we committed the penalties? ... Then it's a downer to have a power play and turn over the puck and make bad decisions.''

Park got his fifth goal of the season when San Jose's power-play unit got profoundly confused, turning over the puck and then leaving Park alone to take an easy shot at Nabokov.

Goc tied it early in the second period with an expertly placed shot on a 2-on-1 break with Josh Langfeld. Goc, a German rookie, has four goals in six games.

The Sharks pulled Nabokov and had a 6-on-3 advantage in the final 41.8 seconds, but lost a faceoff and only got the puck on net twice. Vancouver hadn't won on the road since Oct. 25.

''Special teams let us down,'' Sharks defenceman Kyle McLaren said. ''You have to thrive on special teams, and we didn't do it. It's inexcusable to get off the way we're playing in the first period, and it's costing us points.''

Scott Thornton returned to the Sharks' lineup after missing five games with a groin injury. The 15-year veteran fought Wade Brookbank in the first period.

Notes: The Sharks put backup G Vesa Toskala back on injured reserve with a groin injury to make room for Thornton. Toskala has played just once since getting hurt Oct. 26, giving up five goals in a loss to Colorado last week. ... D Steve McCarthy didn't travel to San Jose with the Canucks after aggravating his injured groin in practice Tuesday. Brookbank took the lineup spot of McCarthy, who missed his third straight game. ... Vancouver D Sami Salo thought he scored yet another goal moments after Jovanovski's goal, but officials waved it off, curiously claiming a Vancouver teammate was in the crease. Crawford said the call was ''a little bit puzzling, but it's always a little bit puzzling when you're not the benefactor of the call.''

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[silverpig]

w00t!

 

[sandorski]

woohoo

 

[Aquaman]

Canucks continue road trip in L.A.

The Sports Network
11/17/2005 9:24:24 AM

The Vancouver Canucks look to build on their first road win in over three weeks when they continue a three-game trip against the Los Angeles Kings.

Vancouver snapped a four-game road skid with a 3-1 victory at San Jose on Wednesday.

Ed Jovanovski had a power-play goal for his 300th career point and added his team-leading 12th assist for the Canucks, who hadn't won away from home since a 3-1 victory at Minnesota on Oct. 25.

"If we can bottle that third period and take it with us to L.A, we'll be all right," Vancouver coach Marc Crawford said. "It's nice to come into this place, where it's very difficult to play, and get a win. The second period was all Sharks, and I liked the way we responded."

Anson Carter also scored on the power play while Richard Park scored Vancouver's first short-handed goal of the season in the first period.

The Canucks were 7-for-65 on the power play on the road this season before scoring twice with the man-advantage in the third period Wednesday.

"In the new NHL, it's a little harder to move you once you get in front of the net," Carter said. "We made a pretty conscious effort to get in front and try to score from there. We were able to match their intensity early, and we got some big chances late."

Dan Cloutier has been strong in net for Vancouver in winning two starts since missing two weeks with a concussion, allowing one goal in each game. He had been 1-2-1 with a 4.66 goals-against average in five previous road starts.

Cloutier is 7-2-3 with a 2.00 GAA in 13 career games against Los Angeles.

Wednesday's victory improved the Canucks' record this season against the Pacific Division to 4-0. They are 24-14-6 against the Pacific since the 2002-03 season.

Los Angeles completed its road trip 2-2 with a 3-2 loss at Nashville on Tuesday.

Eric Belanger and Jeff Cowan scored for the Kings, who play four of their next six games at the Staples Center after playing six of their last seven on the road.

Los Angeles, tied with Dallas atop the Pacific, has won three of four at home and hasn't lost back-to-back games this season.

Kings center Jeremy Roenick, who had his points streak snapped at four games Tuesday, has 56 points in 47 career games against the Canucks.

Vancouver is 6-1-3 in its last 10 meetings against Los Angeles.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[sandorski]

woooo D Sedin!

 

[silverpig]

Gotta have a strong third. I think we can pull it out. Almost had 2 more in that period there.

 

[sandorski]

woo jovo

 

[Slew Foot]

haha, youre getting your ass handed to you.

 

[sandorski]

woo Naslund with a beauty

btw, previous goal given to Bootuzzi

 

[sandorski]

wooo Naslund, nother beauty from Bootuzi

 

[sandorski]

Dang, gave it a go, but couldn't get the tieing goal.

 

[silverpig]

Well we got a strong part of the third. I really thought we'd make the full come back. Props to nazzy and bert.

 

[Aquaman]

Kings hold off Canucks

Associated Press
11/18/2005 2:25:14 AM

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Vancouver Canucks simply ran out of time against the Los Angeles Kings, whose offence shut down after an early power-play outburst.

The Canucks rallied with three goals in the third period, but the Kings held on for a 5-4 victory on Thursday night.

Defenceman Lubomir Visnovsky scored twice on the power play in a 53-second span of the first period and Michael Cammalleri also scored with the man advantage, helping Los Angeles build a 5-1 cushion.

''We gave them an opportunity, and that's what great teams do,'' Kings centre Craig Conroy said. ''If you lose those kind of games, you really take it to heart and you think about it. The first game home after a long road trip is always the toughest, I think. I don't know why, but for us to come in here and beat a team like that is a big positive.''

Jeff Cowan and Conroy scored 16 seconds apart in the third to give Los Angeles their four-goal lead and drive Vancouver goaltender Dan Cloutier to the bench with 16:40 remaining. Todd Bertuzzi scored about four minutes later on a power play and Markus Naslund had two goals in a 55-second stretch, narrowing the gap to 5-4 with 2:47 remaining.

''Dan battled very hard for us as he does every night. And without him in the net, it would probably have been more than a 5-1 lead when he left,'' Vancouver defenceman Mattias Ohlund said. ''I don't think it had anything to do with Dan's play. But usually a change gives teams a little lift, and for us it did.''

Pavol Demitra had three assists, and Mathieu Garon made 32 saves in his fourth consecutive start while Jason LaBarbara has been attending to personal matters. Alexander Frolov had two assists, giving the Frolov-Demitra-Conroy line 26 goals and 38 assists over the last 14 games.

''We're hungry and we're cruising right along,'' Conroy said. ''Alex and Pavol are the type of guys that once they smell a little blood in the water, they're circling.''

The three power-play goals were a season high for the Kings, who outshot Vancouver 12-1 over the first 12½ minutes while taking a 2-0 lead.

''That first period was very undisciplined,'' Naslund said. ''We gave them a lead that was tough to come back from. We battled hard to get back, but we started too late. We've got to play smarter. Consistency has been one of the big things we've tried to find all year, and we're still working on it.''

There were 21 seconds remaining on a 5-on-3 advantage when Visnovsky used Cammalleri and Canucks defenceman Sami Salo as a screen to beat Cloutier to the stick side with a 30-foot slap shot at 9:39.

Visnovsky, who hadn't scored a goal in six games since his hat trick at Dallas on Nov. 2, connected again with 12 seconds still left on an interference penalty against Ohlund. Frolov earned his 100th NHL point on the play, setting up Visnovsky with a pass through the crease.

''They've got a good power play and we put ourselves in a bad spot,'' Naslund said. ''The fact that we took so many penalties in the first period didn't help. Maybe it was a sign that we weren't ready to play. I'm not sure.''

The Kings also capitalized on their next power play. Ohlund, playing in his 500th NHL game, fanned on an attempted clearing pass from the right corner of the Vancouver zone. Demitra jumped on the loose puck and passed to Cammalleri, who made a move to sidestep Richard Park and scored on a screened wrist shot from the slot at 1:38 of the second period.

The Canucks, who killed off all eight San Jose power plays in Wednesday's 3-1 victory, cut the Kings' lead to 3-1 at 16:12 of the middle period as Daniel Sedin got a perfect cross-ice pass at the right of the crease from brother Daniel to snap a 10-game goal drought.

Notes: The MLS champion Los Angeles Galaxy assembled at the visiting bench during the first intermission and were saluted by the sellout crowd. Midfielder Mamba Chisoni held the MLS Cup while riding the Zamboni. ... Canucks C Trevor Linden has not had a goal or an assist in 19 of his first 20 games. ... Naslund, who was beaten out by Peter Forsberg for the NHL scoring title on the final day of the 2003 season, has more points than any player since the start of that season (191).

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[Aquaman]

Burke's Ducks host his former team

The Sports Network
11/20/2005 11:16:38 AM

The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, led in the front office by General Manager Brian Burke, look to avoid tying the longest losing streak in franchise history when they host his former team, the Vancouver Canucks.

Anaheim dropped its seventh straight game on Friday with a 3-2 defeat to the Colorado Avalanche, its longest skid since also losing seven in a row in March 1998. A loss Sunday would tie the franchise record set in October 1996.

The Ducks have outshot opponents 192-139 the last five games, but have only nine goals to show for their effort. Anaheim is 3-for-38 on the power play in its last six contests.

"It's very frustrating right now in this locker room," said Teemu Selanne, who scored his team-high 10th goal in Friday's defeat. "We had all kinds of chances, but we just can't score right now."

Ilya Bryzgalov made 28 saves for Anaheim as Jean-Sebastien Giguere missed his second straight game because of a hamstring strain. Giguere is not expected to return for Sunday's game.

Five of the Ducks' seven losses during the skid have come at home, where they've beaten Vancouver only once in the last five meetings in the series.

Adding a bit of drama to the matchup is the fact that Burke has played a big role in re-shaping both clubs. He was the president and general manager of the Canucks from 1998-2004. Under his leadership, the team increased its point total four consecutive years from 1999-2003.

Burke has also left his signature on the Ducks, bringing in talents like Selanne and All-Star defenceman Scott Niedermayer, as well as trading centre Sergei Fedorov and his lofty contract.

The Canucks opened a three-game road trip with a 3-1 win over San Jose on Wednesday for their second straight victory, but fell 5-4 to Los Angeles on Thursday despite a late comeback attempt.

The Kings took a 5-1 lead before Vancouver scored three goals in the third period, but the Canucks simply ran out of time.

"We gave them a lead that was tough to come back from," said Markus Naslund, who had two goals in a 55-second stretch to narrow the gap to 5-4 with 2:47 remaining. "We battled hard to get back, but we started too late. We've got to play smarter. Consistency has been one of the big things we've tried to find all year, and we're still working on it."

Naslund, who was beaten out by Peter Forsberg for the NHL scoring title on the final day of the 2003-04 season, has more points than any player since the start of that season (191).

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[sandorski]

woo Linden Penalty shot goal!!


Some of the calls in this game are headshakers.

 

[clickynext]

Weird game but at least we got the W...