NHL
Scores/Schedules
Standings
Statistics
Transactions
Injuries
Players
Weekly lineup
Video Highlights

  Saturday, Oct. 30 10:00pm ET
Schwab loses shutout with 1:22 left
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- Less than 24 hours after arriving in Vancouver, following a 10-hour cross-continent journey, Corey Schwab can finally rest peacefully.

Schwab, acquired Friday in a trade from Atlanta to bolster the Canucks' injury-depleted goalie ranks, stopped 20 shots in his NHL season debut, inspiring Vancouver to a 4-1 win over the Nashville Predators on Saturday night.

"Definitely, I was fatigued a little bit. I just haven't had too much sleep the last day and a half, but that's all right," said Schwab, who was working on a shutout before Kimmo Timonen scored with 1:22 left in the game.

Not that it mattered.

"You've just got to take it the way it comes. I'm just happy we got the win," said Schwab, who had a 3-1-1 record with the Orlando Solar Bears of the International Hockey League this season.

The Canucks were forced into acquiring Schwab to fill in for injured goalies Kevin Weekes (sore right knee) and Garth Snow (fractured finger). Weekes, listed day to day, suffered his injury in Thursday's 4-1 loss to Phoenix, while Snow is at least another two weeks from returning to the lineup.

"(Schwab) had a very, very fine performance," said Canucks coach Marc Crawford. "He really was a significant contributor to the win. Not only did he play well, but he also had the type of presence that our team needed tonight." Offensively, Alexander Mogilny had a goal and two assists and Steve Kariya scored twice, as the Canucks snapped a three-game home losing streak.

Curiously, all five of Kariya's goals have come on a Saturday night.

"I don't know. Hopefully, I can start scoring on weekdays. We'll see," Kariya said.

Adrian Aucoin also scored for Vancouver in a game played before the smallest crowd -- 11,793 -- since GM Place opened in September 1995.

Kariya, set up by Mogilny's drop pass, opened the scoring 2:08 into the game when he split the defense and snapped a shot over Mike Dunham's right shoulder.

Aucoin made it 2-0, scoring on the power play with 6.3 seconds left in the first period. Markus Naslund set up the goal, sweeping a pass into the high slot where Aucoin chased it down and snapped it in.

Mogilny and Kariya then scored over a 3:20 span to give the Canucks a 4-0 lead by 9:29 of the second period.

Predators coach Barry Trotz said it was Aucoin's goal, scored late in the first period, that deflated his team.

"If we get out of that period and it's only 1-0 I can get a little angry, I can make a few points and maybe we can refocus and go from there," Trotz said. "When you get a goal in the last few seconds of a period, that sort of took the steam out."

After winning three straight, Nashville has now lost two in a row.

"Once the other team scores, we seem to sit back," said Cliff Ronning, the Predators' leading scorer. "We're a young team, we have to learn from games like this. ... It's just a matter of playing better right from the start."

Nashville went 1-for-4 on the power play, extending its franchise-record streak to seven straight games with a power-play goal.

The victory marked only the fourth time the Canucks (7-4-2-1) have won seven or more games in October, and first since going 7-3-0 to open the 1993 season.
 


ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard

Nashville Clubhouse

Vancouver Clubhouse


RECAPS
Phoenix 5
Colorado 3

Boston 3
Buffalo 0

NY Rangers 2
Montreal 2

Carolina 4
NY Islanders 0

Ottawa 5
Florida 0

Philadelphia 5
New Jersey 3

Toronto 2
Calgary 1

Los Angeles 3
Chicago 1

Tampa Bay 2
Dallas 1

St. Louis 5
Detroit 4

Vancouver 4
Nashville 1

Pittsburgh 1
San Jose 1

AUDIO/VIDEO
video
 Steve Kariya scores the first of his two goals.
avi: 681 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1