Canucks blank struggling Avs 3-0
If history really does repeat, get ready for another big run by the Vancouver Canucks. It was a year ago nearly to the day when the
Canucks were playing mediocre hockey before using a victory against the
Colorado Avalanche as a springboard to a monster run that eventually led to a
trip to the Stanley Cup Final.
The Canucks are hopeful that their 3-0 win
over the Avalanche on Wednesday night at the Pepsi Center will be a similar
catalyst.
The Canucks began the evening with 21 points,
the same total as on Nov. 24, 2010, when they pinned a 4-2 loss on the Avs and
went on to win five of their next six games and 18 of 22 to seize control of
the Western Conference.
Vancouver had a relatively easy time of it
Wednesday. Goals by Manny Malhotra
and Alex Burrows staked goalie Cory Schneider to a 2-0 lead and Ryan Kesler added an empty-net goal
with 29.4 seconds left in the third period.
The win gave Canucks coach Alain Vigneault his 247th victory,
breaking a tie with Marc Crawford
for the most in franchise history.
Schneider, making his third start in a row as
Roberto Luongo recovers from an
upper-body injury, finished with 24 saves. His best came at the 10-minute mark
of the third period shortly after an Avalanche power play expired. Schneider
moved from left to right and dropped down just in time to get his blocker on a
puck shot by Ryan O’Reilly, who was
looking at an open corner.
The Canucks have had their way with the
Avalanche. They have gone 6-0-1 against Colorado in the past seven meetings,
9-0-2 in the past 11 and 7-1-2 in their last 10 games in Denver.
The Canucks outshot the Avalanche 16-6 in the
opening period and took a 1-0 lead on Malhotra’s first goal of the season at
17:03. Rookie Cody Hodgson was in
the left circle when he passed to Malhotra in the slot for a quick shot past
goalie Semyon Varlamov.
Schneider made two big saves with a little
over a minute left in the period. He stopped Kevin Porter, who made a nifty
move to skate by defenseman Kevin Bieksa, and turned aside Chuck Kobasew’s stab at the rebound.
Burrows scored at 7:33 of the second period
after taking a pass from Dan Hamhuis,
skating into the left circle and firing the puck over sliding defenseman Shane O’Brien and inside the left post.
The Canucks and Avalanche started the night
with the first- and second-ranked power plays in the NHL but combined to go 0-for-7.
Trailing by two goals in the third period, the Avalanche went on three
consecutive power plays and couldn’t cut into the Canucks’ lead.
-by Rick Sadowski for NHL.com-
Eurolanche.com, Worldwide, eurolanche@eurolanche.com
24/11/2011 - 06:24
