| |
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- A second-straight shutout
would have been nice, but Felix Potvin is happy to have a second
win.
Potvin stopped 21 shots and came within 4.7 seconds of blanking
Calgary as the Vancouver Canucks won their third-straight game, 4-1
over the Flames on Wednesday.
|  | | Calgary's Jason Wiemer served two penalties Wednesday, but not for this check on Ed Jovanovski. |
"Those things happen, but the main thing is to get the win,"
said Potvin of Clarke Wilm's late power-play goal. The win gave the
young Canucks a 5-2 record and their best start since 1993-94.
"The defense did a good job, especially on the rebounds,"
added Potvin, who shut out the Buffalo Sabres in his last start on
Saturday. "They let me see the shots and they handled the guys
coming in for the rebounds."
Vancouver's strong defensive play has been a trademark over the
last three games. After losing 5-2 to Colorado in their home
opener, the Canucks have allowed three goals in three games. All
three were scored on the power play.
"We're looking to play a tight game and letting our offense
take care of itself," Vancouver captain Markus Naslund said. "The
last three games we've given up a few breakaways but we are
definitely going in the right direction."
After Murray Baron and Greg Hawgood opened the scoring for
Vancouver, Naslund made it 3-0 with his sixth goal of the season at
13:31 of the second period. With Vancouver on the power play,
Calgary goalie Mike Vernon stopped Adrian Aucoin's point shot but
the rebound trickled behind him. Naslund was able to pounce on it
before any of the Flames could.
Rookie Henrik Sedin rounded out the Vancouver scoring at 11:57
of the third period with his second goal in as many games. Henrik's
twin brother Daniel extended his point streak to five games with an
assist on his brother's goal. The highly touted Swedish twins have
combined for 10 points in seven games.
"We've had so many guys chipping in," said Naslund, who is
tied for the NHL goal-scoring lead. "We had (Murray) Baron
stepping in today and leading the way when we were struggling in
the first period and I thought that was a huge goal for us."
Baron opened the scoring at 14:49 of the first period. Mattias
Ohlund's point shot was stopped by Vernon but the rebound bounced
high in the air and Baron batted it in from waist level.
Hawgood beat Vernon on the power play at 4:22 of the second
period as the Canucks managed two goals in four opportunities with
the man advantage.
While Vancouver enjoyed offense from all four lines, the Flames
struggled to generate any quality scoring chances.
"As a team we didn't create enough opportunities," Calgary
captain Steve Smith said. "We didn't get on top of their defense,
we didn't get pucks in deep, we didn't make good dump-ins for our
forwards and our forwards certainly didn't do a good job of getting
pucks back when we did get it in. Their defense cleared pucks very
well and Potvin had a strong game."
Calgary lost for the first time in three road games and dropped
to 2-4 on the season. The Flames will try for their first win in
four home games when they take on the Boston Bruins on Friday.
Game notes
It was the first of five meetings between Vancouver and
Calgary this season. The Flames dominated the season series last
year with a 4-1-1 record against Vancouver. ... Donald Brashear
became the first Vancouver player to miss a game due to injury when
he sat out with a sprained knee. Brashear's forward spot was taken
by Hawgood. ... Ohlund played in his 200th career NHL game. ...
Vernon took the loss and remained tied with Vancouver goaltending
coach Andy Moog for seventh in career NHL wins with 372.
| |
ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Calgary Clubhouse
Vancouver Clubhouse
RECAPS
Colorado 5
Columbus 1
Carolina 3
Pittsburgh 2
Dallas 2
San Jose 1
Minnesota 6
Tampa Bay 5
NY Rangers 4
Chicago 2
Phoenix 2
Florida 1
Vancouver 4
Calgary 1
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Greg Hawgood goes through Mike Vernon.
avi: 531 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
|
