Official: Vancouver Canucks W00T

[Aquaman]

Canucks hand Ducks eighth straight loss

Sports Ticker
11/20/2005 6:59:16 PM

ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- Defenseman Sami Salo became the latest contributor to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim's lengthy losing streak.

Salo scored a pair of goals, including the game-winner with 7:48 remaining, as the Vancouver Canucks recorded a 3-2 triumph over the Ducks, who have dropped eight straight games for the first time in more than nine years.

With the scored tied at 2-2 with under eight minutes remaining, Markus Naslund made a diving play to knock the puck back to the right point. The Canucks captain was rewarded for his hustle when Salo received the pass and snapped a wrist shot past goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov.

The tally was the sixth of the season and second of the game for Salo, who opened the scoring with a power-play goal just under five minutes into the contest. The Finn is already two-thirds of the way to his career high for goals set in the 2002-03 season.

Vancouver's Trevor Linden was awarded a penalty shot in the waning seconds of the second period when he was hooked from behind on a breakaway. The veteran center took advantage of the opportunity, lifting a backhand over a sprawled Bryzgalov for a 2-1 lead.



Rob Niedermayer forged a 2-2 tie just 47 seconds into the third period when he took a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle that deflected off Vancouver defenseman Bryan Allen past Dan Cloutier for his fourth goal of the season.

Andy McDonald also scored for Anaheim, which previously dropped eight straight games from October 12-30, 1996.

Bryzgalov made 12 saves in place of Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who was forced out of action late in the first period when he aggravated a hamstring injury.

Cloutier knocked away 31 shots for Vancouver, which won for the third time in its last four games.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[Aquaman]

Canucks play host to Blackhawks

The Sports Network
11/22/2005 10:59:18 AM

(Sports Network) - The Chicago Blackhawks try to extend their season-long winning streak to four games tonight when they visit the Vancouver Canucks at GM Place.

The Canucks have won three of their last four games. On Sunday, Sami Salo scored two goals, including the game-winner in the third period, as the Canucks defeated the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 3-2, at the Pond.

Trevor Linden scored on a penalty shot and Dan Cloutier made 31 saves for the Canucks.

Canucks captain Markus Naslund has a six-game point streak intact, checking in with four goals and six assists during the run.

The Canucks, who are a sizzling 8-1-0 at home, will host San Jose on Thursday.

On Saturday, the Blackhawks Rene Bourque registered a pair of goals and Craig Anderson stopped 33 shots to lead Chicago to a 4-3 victory over Edmonton at Rexall Place.

Kyle Calder racked up three assists while Mark Bell scored once and assisted on another as the surging Blackhawks won their fifth game in six tries overall.

Goaltender Craig Anderson finished with 33 saves, including 14 in the second period.

Bell has tallied six goals in his last five games, after going 14 straight tilts without finding the net.

Vancouver posted a 6-2 win over Chicago on October 18 at GM Place, and has won six of the last seven meetings.

The Blackhawks have lost in their last six trips to Vancouver.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[sandorski]

wooo Naslund

 

[sandorski]

wooo Kesler, finally. Could've had a Hat Trick by now.

 

[sandorski]

wooo H Sedin

 

[sandorski]

wooo Victory.

Kesler deserves a star for tonights game.

 

[silverpig]

:thumbsup:

 

[Aquaman]

Auld backstops Canucks past Blackhawks

Canadian Press
11/23/2005 12:37:33 AM

VANCOUVER (CP) - Ryan Kesler ended an 11-game scoring drought Tuesday by scoring what proved to be the winning goal as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1.

Kesler gave the Canucks their first lead early in the second period and solid goaltending by Alex Auld preserved it as Vancouver won its fourth game in five starts.

Mark Bell gave Chicago a first-period edge and Markus Naslund tied the game on the power play for the Canucks with his 13th goal of the season.

Henrik Sedin provided insurance for Vancouver in the third period by converting a goalmouth pass from Anson Carter.

Auld, making his first start in five games, seemed to be always in position as Chicago outshot the Canucks 32-22.

The Blackhawks (9-12-0) failed to extend their season-best three-game win streak after an Alberta sweep of the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers.

Vancouver won at home for the ninth time in 10 games to move two points ahead of the second-place Flames in the Northwest Division. The Canucks (14-6-2) have a game in hand on Calgary.

The Canucks took a 2-1 lead into the third period on goals one minute eight seconds apart by Naslund and Kesler.

Naslund tied the game with his fifth goal in seven games by finishing a three-way passing sequence with linemates Todd Bertuzzi and Brendan Morrison.

Bertuzzi started the play with a quick pass to Morrison from the side boards. Morrison tipped the puck to Naslund who fired high over the shoulder of goalie Nikolai Khabibulin.

Hard work in the goal area enabled Kesler to count at 5:17 of the middle period.

He chipped the puck to Richard Park at the side of the net but Park was foiled by Khabibulin. Jarkko Ruutu took a swipe at the puck and missed and Kesler swept the puck past the goalie.

Auld had to be sharp to preserve the lead as the Canucks were outshot 25-16 in the first 40 minutes by the hard-working Blackhawks.

His best save saw him come across the crease to rob Matthew Barnaby on the backhand after outguessing Martin Lapointe in the slot.

An industrious forecheck paid dividends for the Blackhawks who took a 1-0 lead in the final minute of the first period on Bell's sixth goal in his last four games.

Bell, who now has eight on the season after a 14-game drought, was left alone to take Kyle Calder's pass at the side of the net and beat Auld with a high wrist shot.

Notes: Canucks defenceman Steve McCarthy, who injured his groin Nov. 7 against Calgary, missed his sixth straight game ... Chicago defenceman Jim Vandermeer and left-winger Pavel Vroboiev were both out with ankle injuries ... Canuck centre Matt Cooke, who suffered a broken jaw when hit by a puck Nov. 1 in practice, has resumed skating and is wearing a full face shield ... call-up Nathan Smith of the Manitoba Moose took Cooke's roster spot.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[clickynext]

That was a good game! Seemed to me like one of the only games where the team actually played well for the entire game.

 

[Aquaman]

Canucks host sinking Sharks without Cloutier

Sports Network
11/24/2005 3:46:04 PM

(Sports Network) - The San Jose Sharks will try for their first win in nearly three weeks this evening as they visit the Vancouver Canucks at GM Place.

The Sharks have dropped seven in a row, including a loss to the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. Tony Amonte scored the game-winning goal with just over three minutes left in the game and Miikka Kiprusoff made 20 saves to lead the Flames to a 3-2 win at the Saddledome.

Grant Stevenson scored his first career NHL goal and Evgeni Nabokov stopped 22 of 25 shots for the Sharks, who are 0-4-3 in their last seven games. San Jose hasn't won since posting a 1-0 win in Anaheim on November 4.

Tom Preissing also notched his fourth goal of the season and Patrick Marleau had two assists for San Jose.

Tonight's game ends a three-game road trip for the Sharks, who are 4-6-2 away from San Jose this year.

The Canucks, meanwhile, have won two straight and four of their last five games. Vancouver has secured 30 points this season and is currently tied with Calgary for first place in the Northwest Division.

The Canucks were last in action Tuesday evening when they picked up a home win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Alex Auld stopped all but one of the 33 shots he faced and three different Canucks scored in the 3-1 victory. He will start the next few games with starter Dan Cloutier suffering from a sprained knee.

Cloutier will not even travel with the team on Vancouver's two-game mini-road trip to Pheonix and Denver later this week.

The Canucks, though, should be in good hands. Auld's save percentage of .917 is tops in the league among back-up goalies.

Markus Naslund, Ryan Kesler and Henrik Sedin each tallied for the Canucks, in the win over Chicago, and Vancouver is now 9-1 at GM Place this season.

Naslund has registered a point in seven straight games, posting five goals and six assists in the stretch. Daniel Sedin, who had an assist versus Chicago, has a point in five consecutive games.

The Canucks earned a 3-1 win in San Jose in the first meeting of the year on November 16. Vancouver has won three straight and five of the last nine matchups.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[Aquaman]

Canucks' Cloutier sidelined with injury

Canadian Press
11/24/2005 5:33:16 PM

VANCOUVER (CP) - Vancouver Canucks goalie Dan Cloutier will miss at least three games because of a sprained knee.

Backup Alex Auld was scheduled to start against San Jose on Thursday night and the Canucks recalled rookie Rob McVicar from Manitoba of the American Hockey League.

Cloutier suffered the injury Sunday in Anaheim.

Vancouver also recalled defenceman Sven Butenschon.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[clickynext]

Go canucks go!

 

[sandorski]

Whoahh, what's with all the trade rumours? There's talk of Cloutier going and even Bertuzzi.

 

[sandorski]

woohoo Brookbank

 

[sandorski]

woohoo naslund

 

[sandorski]

woohoo carter

 

[sandorski]

woohoo victory

 

[clickynext]

Woot Canucks! Another game where they played fairly consistently through. I'm starting to like it.

There's that crazy rumor about a trade with Florida for Luongo, but I just don't see how it could go through. Vancouver wants a more reliable starting goalie than Cloutier if they're to ever make it far in the playoffs, but I don't see them trading away any of their top guys like Bertuzzi or Jovanovski because it would just take a bit chunk out of their offense, right when the top line's starting to really get going again.

Having said that, though, Vancouver seems to me like a team that's really got the potential to go all the way. One of the best offensive teams in the league with talent on every line, very solid defense who can shoot. The only big variable is the goaltending. No one knows on any given night whether Cloutier's going to put on a show, or just break down. If they can somehow get the goaltending down, I like their chances.

 

[Aquaman]

Canucks rally past Sharks for victory

Canadian Press
11/25/2005 2:34:42 AM

VANCOUVER (CP) - The new NHL might promote run and gun for some teams, but the Vancouver Canucks know substance over style pays dividends.

The Canucks showed enough patience until the third period when Anson Carter and Markus Naslund scored 55 seconds apart to forge a 3-2 victory Thursday night over the slumping San Jose Sharks.

"It's frustrating sometimes," Carter said after waiting out a video review of his game-winning sixth goal of the season."You come to the bench shaking your head because there isn't much room out there.

"You're dumping and chasing the whole time and you want to showcase your skills and make good plays but you just have to take what the game gives you."

Carter scored when the net was knocked off its moorings by Shark defender Scott Hannan as Canuck Henrik Sedin burst in on a partial breakaway. Carter was there to put the rebound behind goalie Evgeni Nabokov.

Referee Kerry Fraser announced that the goal would stand because the net was knocked off by a defender.

The Sharks (8-10-4) saw their losing streak extend to eight games, while the Canucks (15-6-2) improved to 10-1 at GM Place by winning their fifth game in six starts.

Vancouver moved two points ahead of second-place Calgary in the Northwest Division and have a game in hand on the Flames.

Carter said teams are wary of the Canucks' high-octane offence so they test their patience.

"A younger team would get frustrated, but the guys in this room are pretty mature," Carter said. "There's going to be some nights where we have to grind it out."

Naslund, who scored his 14th goal of the season with a quick-release wrist shot, said it's important to try to beat teams like the Sharks at their own game.

"If you try to be creative and come with speed the possibilities are that you're going to turn pucks over and they're going to get chances," Naslund said. "I think we played them the right way."

Versatile but lightly used Wade Brookbank, who also had an assist, also scored for the Canucks as he was moved to forward from defence for this game.

Rookie Marcel Goc and Patrick Marleau, with his team-leading 10th goal and third in four games, gave the Sharks 1-0 and 2-1 leads.

But while Naslund and Carter produced timely goals, Vancouver netminder Alex Auld contributed key saves on a penalty kill to preserve the victory.

He robbed Marleau from the face-off circle and twice foiled Milan Michalek.

"It's always fun to kill one off at the end," said Auld who faced only 22 shots. "The pucks just seemed to keep hitting me.

"It's an important time of the game when a team's pushing like that."

Dan Cloutier was expected to play goal for Vancouver, but the club said he will miss three starts because of a sprained knee suffered Sunday in a win over the Mighty Ducks in Anaheim.

While the Canucks were frustrated by the San Jose style of play, the Sharks were frustrated by the ruling on the Carter goal and the length of their losing streak.

"If I'm deliberately taking the net off its moorings and I take out my own goalie ... I mean I don't know how (Fraser) saw I deliberately did it," Hannan said. "I wasn't even standing.

"I can't make a play like that (on the winning goal). It cost us the game."

Marleau said the club will just have to persevere.

"There's always ups and downs and you've got to get through those things," he said. "We know we have to do that soon or we're going to find ourselves a long way down in the standings."

NOTES: Auld got his second consecutive start after a solid 31-save effort Tuesday in a 3-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks ... Rob McVicar was recalled from the AHL Manitoba Moose as the backup netminder ... Moose defenceman Sven Butenschon was also recalled by Vancouver to take the roster spot of Steve McCarthy who missed his seventh consecutive game with a groin injury.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[Locut0s]

I hate hockey but I'm a fellow Vancouverite!

 

[sandorski]

woohoo Carter!

 

[sandorski]

loss

 

[Sealy]

Good try guys! Next time!!

 

[clickynext]

Wow... I only watched the second period, and if they played like that the entire game, the didn't deserve to lose!

 

[Aquaman]

Cujo turns back Canucks in the desert

Associated Press
11/27/2005 2:16:22 AM

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) - Curtis Joseph made starting on consecutive nights look easy.

The 38-year-old goalie made 34 saves, and Ladislav Nagy had a goal and an assist in the Phoenix Coyotes' 2-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night.

Joseph's performance came a night after he made 32 saves in Phoenix's 4-1 victory in Dallas. The victory raised his record to 11-7-0, and he lowered his goals-against average to 2.12.

"Having Fuhrsey (Grant Fuhr) as a goalie coach is a great help," Joseph said. "The guy's a Hall of Famer. He knows what I'm thinking before I do."

Anson Carter spoiled Joseph's bid for his third shutout of the season with 9:03 remaining, stealing an errant clearing attempt by Denis Gauthier and beating Joseph from the centre of the left faceoff circle.

"He has been exceptional. He's been outstanding," Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky said. "He's been one of the best players in the National Hockey League without question."

Gretzky said Joseph, who has started 18 of the Coyotes' 26 games and 12 of their last 15, will take a well-earned night off when Phoenix plays Anaheim on Wednesday.

Vancouver lost for just the second time in five games. The Canucks are an NHL-best 10-1-0 at home but only 5-6-2 on the road.

Sean O'Donnell scored his first goal for the Coyotes, who have won four of their last five.

Phoenix needed only 2:05 to score against goalie Alex Auld. Mike Johnson passed the puck from the left corner to the high slot, and O'Donnell, trailing the play, skated into the zone and beat Auld with a one-timer from between the circles.

Nagy made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 11:30 of the period, redirecting Jamie Lundmark's shot from the right point past Auld.

Joseph shut out the Canucks for more than 2½ periods, stopping several point-blank shots along the way. Two of his most difficult saves came late in the second period when he stopped Ryan Kesler's shot with his right pad, then made the save on Richard Park's rebound attempt seconds later.

"We definitely could have buried a few power-play chances and that might have changes the complexion of the game a little bit," Carter said. "We had plenty of chances on the power play. Chances don't win you hockey games. You have to put the puck in the back of the net."

The Canucks were scoreless on six power-play chances.

"I think urgency is something we need to have in our play all the time," Canucks coach Marc Crawford said. "I can't stand here and say we were an urgent hockey team. We were waiting for things to happen instead of creating them."

Shane Doan was awarded the Coyotes' franchise-record fourth penalty shot of the season when he was pulled down from behind by Ed Jovanovski. Doan skated straight at Auld, switching briefly from his forehand to his backhand and back again, before shooting into the goalie's midsection.

Notes: The franchise record of three penalty shots was set in 1992-93 in Winnipeg and matched in 1999-00 in Phoenix. ... Doan's penalty shot was Phoenix's second in two nights. Mike Comrie misfired Friday night in Dallas against Marty Turco. ... Phoenix D Keith Ballard levelled Park with a shoulder check to the forward's face in the second period, setting off a brief skirmish. Park returned later in the period.

Cheers,
Aquaman