Canucks clobber flightless Wings
Canadian Press
11/23/2002
VANCOUVER (CP) - Changing his mental approach after a bad loss or a big win is making Dan Cloutier a better goalie for the Vancouver Canucks.
``That's one thing I learned last year,'' Cloutier said after his 22-save effort backstopped the Canucks to a 4-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Friday night.
``If I had bad games, just forget about it and if you have a couple of good games in a row, not let it affect you either.
``Just keep it on an even keel. That's the way I approached tonight. Maybe people don't believe it but I approached it (that way).''
When the teams met in the first round of the playoffs last spring, Cloutier surrendered the goal widely seen as the turning point in the series when Niklas Lidstrom beat him on a shot from the centre red line.
The Wings were trailing 2-0 in games at the time but rebounded to sweep the remaining four games. Cloutier was lifted for backup Peter Skudra in two of the losses.
Cloutier put those demons behind him Friday in the first meeting of the two clubs since the Wings went on to win the Stanley Cup.
He set the tone early by coming across his crease to foil Tomas Holmstrom who had taken a pass on his doorstep.
``I saw he was open on the other side,'' Cloutier said. ``He really took a hard shot and I just tried to get over there and cover the bottom of the net because I knew he was going to one-time it.''
Matt Cooke of the Canucks scored on the next rush and Vancouver led 2:44 into the game.
``If I went in there and put any extra pressure on myself and things like that maybe it would have been different,'' said Cloutier, who killed any chance of a Detroit comeback by stacking the pads on Sergei Fedorov with 6:55 remaining.
Detroit veteran Igor Larionov said the Homstrom save was the key for the Canucks.
``We didn't score and the next rush they scored the first goal. It's very important to take the lead and then just play the system and wait for your chances.''
Markus Naslund, Trent Klatt and Todd Bertuzzi also scored for the Canucks who chased goalie Curtis Joseph midway through the second period.
Brett Hull smoked a slapshot to the top corner on the power play to end Cloutier's shutout bid midway through the third period.
Both teams said the game would be a measure of their progress since they met in the playoffs.
The surging Canucks have six consecutive victories while halting the Wings' win streak at five. Vancouver is 8-1 for November with five straight wins at GM Place after struggling at home during October.
``We did pretty well,'' was the assessment of Klatt who beat Joseph on a break down the right wing. ``We played a very good game, certainly in the first two periods when we pretty much took it to them.
``Any time you can play a team that's won the Stanley Cup the previous year that well, it's pretty good.''
Naslund, on pace for his third consecutive 40-goal season, notched his 13th of the campaign when he buried Brendan Morrison's passout from behind the net.
Bertuzzi chased Joseph, who gave up 11 goals in two games at GM Place as a Toronto Maple Leaf last season, when he scored on a breakaway at 9:01 of the second period.
``We capitalized when we had our chances,'' Bertuzzi said after his 10th goal of the season.
``We just did the simpler things. You have to play a certain way to beat Detroit. You have to play physical. You have to play in their face. I think we did a good job of that.
``We got a good jump on the forecheck and turned a lot of pucks over and had chances that way too.''
Darren McCarty, who helped kill Detroit's momentum by taking consecutive penalties in the first period, said his club didn't play smart hockey.
``If you don't execute your game plan and play good smart hockey, you're not going to win and we proved that tonight,'' he said.
``If you give a team like this odd number rushes with the talented guys that they have and lots of opportunities, you'll be fighting an uphill battle and that's pretty much what we were doing.''
NOTES: The Wings were without veteran Brendan Shanahan who was in Detroit awaiting the arrival of twins ... the game was the eighth sellout of the season in 12 home dates ... Naslund scored twice against Detroit last year ... Mats Lindgren and Ruutu drew into the Vancouver lineup again after forwards Artem Chubarov and Todd Warriner missed their second consecutive games with back injuries ... the Canucks begin a six-game road trip - their longest of the season - Monday in Minnesota.
Cheers,
Aquaman
Canadian Press
11/23/2002
VANCOUVER (CP) - Changing his mental approach after a bad loss or a big win is making Dan Cloutier a better goalie for the Vancouver Canucks.
``That's one thing I learned last year,'' Cloutier said after his 22-save effort backstopped the Canucks to a 4-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Friday night.
``If I had bad games, just forget about it and if you have a couple of good games in a row, not let it affect you either.
``Just keep it on an even keel. That's the way I approached tonight. Maybe people don't believe it but I approached it (that way).''
When the teams met in the first round of the playoffs last spring, Cloutier surrendered the goal widely seen as the turning point in the series when Niklas Lidstrom beat him on a shot from the centre red line.
The Wings were trailing 2-0 in games at the time but rebounded to sweep the remaining four games. Cloutier was lifted for backup Peter Skudra in two of the losses.
Cloutier put those demons behind him Friday in the first meeting of the two clubs since the Wings went on to win the Stanley Cup.
He set the tone early by coming across his crease to foil Tomas Holmstrom who had taken a pass on his doorstep.
``I saw he was open on the other side,'' Cloutier said. ``He really took a hard shot and I just tried to get over there and cover the bottom of the net because I knew he was going to one-time it.''
Matt Cooke of the Canucks scored on the next rush and Vancouver led 2:44 into the game.
``If I went in there and put any extra pressure on myself and things like that maybe it would have been different,'' said Cloutier, who killed any chance of a Detroit comeback by stacking the pads on Sergei Fedorov with 6:55 remaining.
Detroit veteran Igor Larionov said the Homstrom save was the key for the Canucks.
``We didn't score and the next rush they scored the first goal. It's very important to take the lead and then just play the system and wait for your chances.''
Markus Naslund, Trent Klatt and Todd Bertuzzi also scored for the Canucks who chased goalie Curtis Joseph midway through the second period.
Brett Hull smoked a slapshot to the top corner on the power play to end Cloutier's shutout bid midway through the third period.
Both teams said the game would be a measure of their progress since they met in the playoffs.
The surging Canucks have six consecutive victories while halting the Wings' win streak at five. Vancouver is 8-1 for November with five straight wins at GM Place after struggling at home during October.
``We did pretty well,'' was the assessment of Klatt who beat Joseph on a break down the right wing. ``We played a very good game, certainly in the first two periods when we pretty much took it to them.
``Any time you can play a team that's won the Stanley Cup the previous year that well, it's pretty good.''
Naslund, on pace for his third consecutive 40-goal season, notched his 13th of the campaign when he buried Brendan Morrison's passout from behind the net.
Bertuzzi chased Joseph, who gave up 11 goals in two games at GM Place as a Toronto Maple Leaf last season, when he scored on a breakaway at 9:01 of the second period.
``We capitalized when we had our chances,'' Bertuzzi said after his 10th goal of the season.
``We just did the simpler things. You have to play a certain way to beat Detroit. You have to play physical. You have to play in their face. I think we did a good job of that.
``We got a good jump on the forecheck and turned a lot of pucks over and had chances that way too.''
Darren McCarty, who helped kill Detroit's momentum by taking consecutive penalties in the first period, said his club didn't play smart hockey.
``If you don't execute your game plan and play good smart hockey, you're not going to win and we proved that tonight,'' he said.
``If you give a team like this odd number rushes with the talented guys that they have and lots of opportunities, you'll be fighting an uphill battle and that's pretty much what we were doing.''
NOTES: The Wings were without veteran Brendan Shanahan who was in Detroit awaiting the arrival of twins ... the game was the eighth sellout of the season in 12 home dates ... Naslund scored twice against Detroit last year ... Mats Lindgren and Ruutu drew into the Vancouver lineup again after forwards Artem Chubarov and Todd Warriner missed their second consecutive games with back injuries ... the Canucks begin a six-game road trip - their longest of the season - Monday in Minnesota.
Cheers,
Aquaman