Recap: Vancouver vs. Minnesota
Sports Network | November 09, 2008
Vancouver, BC (Sports Network) - Roberto Luongo logged his third consecutive shutout as the Vancouver Canucks blanked the Minnesota Wild, 2-0, at General Motors Place.
Luongo stopped all 29 of Minnesota's shots and has held opponents scoreless for 201 minutes and eight seconds dating back to the second period of a 3-2 loss to Detroit last Sunday. The star netminder went on to log shutouts against Nashville and Phoenix and will go for his own franchise record of 210 minutes and 34 seconds, set last year, Wednesday at home against Colorado.
Sami Salo and Daniel Sedin scored the goals for Vancouver, which has streaked to three straight wins behind Luongo. Henrik Sedin and Kevin Bieksa assisted on both scores.
The Canucks are now 3-1 in the midst of a six-game homestand -- their longest residency of the season.
"I think it makes everybody's job a little bit easier. He's definitely found his groove," Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault said of Luongo. "He's playing with a lot of confidence and you know the guys in front of him are also doing a lot of good things out there -- blocking shots, blocking lanes when they need to. It's a combination of a few things that he's on a roll right now."
Niklas Backstrom did well in keeping Minnesota in the game, turning away 27- of-29 Vancouver shots in defeat. The Wild have now dropped four of their last six games since starting the season with a 5-0-1 mark.
"We did have a lot of good chances. Guys played hard," Wild head coach Jacques Lemaire said. "Their goalie was great. Our goalie was good too. Every time we play them it's that type of game. It's exciting. Luongo -- he's proven himself to be one of the best goalies, so what can you do."
Salo's goal came on the power-play after Colton Gillies was boxed for boarding with close to six minutes left in the first. Henrik sent the puck back to the right point, where Bieksa slid the disc over to Salo at the opposite point and his slapper sailed clear of Backstrom.
A scoreless second frame saw each goaltender turn away 12 shots with Vancouver being stifled on a pair of man-advantage opportunities and Minnesota failing to score on one.
Daniel's tally was the result of a cross-ice pass through the neutral zone from brother Henrik. He skated the puck up the left boards and forced Backstrom down with the threat of five-hole, then lifted a forehand flip into the net, stick side, with only 2:40 left in the game.
Despite the loss, the Wild have had success against the Canucks recently, winning five of the last seven encounters between the clubs. Minnesota has also come out on top in four of the last six meetings in Vancouver...The Canucks are 5-2-0 as the host team so far this season...Minnesota is now 5-3-0 on the road this year and completed a four-game road swing Saturday...The Canucks are now 5-0-0 this season when leading after two periods, all five wins have come on shutouts from Luongo, giving him 43 for his career.
