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Sedins help Canucks douse Flames

Dec 28, 2007 - 7:05 AM VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Ticker) -- The Sedin twins continued their excellent play at General Motors Place on Thursday night.

Henrik and Daniel Sedin each scored a goal and set up another and captain Markus Naslund added two assists as the Vancouver Canucks continued their stellar play at home with a 5-3 triumph over the Calgary Flames.

"The twins with Naslund did a good job tonight," Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said. "We don't score five goals very often and we don't give up three very often. I don't know if we had an offensive outburst or if their goaltender had a tough night. I couldn't tell you which is which."

Mason Raymond and defenseman Sami Salo both tallied in the first period for the Canucks, who have not lost in regulation at home since November 1, going 9-0-2 over that stretch.

The Sedins have been a major reason for the club's success at home, tallying 12 goals and 40 points in 18 contests at home this season.

"I like the way we responded and I thought the line played really well," said Naslund in referring to his line with the Sedin brothers. "I think we handled the puck a lot better rather than scrambling around it as we did for a while."

Daniel Sedin gave Vancouver a 2-1 edge with 3:19 remaining in the opening session on a nifty play. After taking an outlet pass from his brother and breaking down the right wing, Daniel Sedin put a spin move on Calgary defenseman Cory Sarich and launched a backhander past goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff.

"It's a great way to play the puck," Canucks rookie Mason Raymond said of Daniel Sedin's goal. "He was able to push it through Kiprusoff's legs."

"On my first thought I thought, What a goal - it was a highlight goal," Vigneault added. "And then I saw the replay and said, 'Boy, that's a bad goal.'"

Salo doubled the Canucks' advantage with just 39 seconds left in the opening period with his first goal of the campaign, but a pair of second-period tallies by Craig Conroy and Matthew Lombardi just 1:54 apart for the Flames tied the contest at 3-3.

"Well, I've had a feeling that I would clear the season without a goal but I made a good play tonight," Salo said of finally netting his first goal. "I had a lot of time and there was a lot of good traffic." Vancouver regained the lead with 2:55 left in the middle session when Henrik Sedin notched his seventh goal of the season on the power play. After taking a centering feed from his brother, Henrik Sedin knocked the puck between the pads of Kiprusoff to make it 4-3.

It was all the offense that Roberto Luongo would need. The 28-year-old netminder turned aside 29 shots, including all 12 he faced in the third period.

"It was a sloppy game," Luongo said. "I thought there were a lot of turnovers on both sides but fortunately we were able to get some goals tonight."

Taylor Pyatt added an insurance goal - his ninth of the campaign - at 6:59 of the third period to give the Canucks a 5-3 advantage. Both Pyatt and Raymond also had a goal and an assist in this one.

Pyatt's goal ended the night for Kiprusoff, who stopped just 15 of the 20 shots he faced. He was relieved by Curtis McElhinney, who did not face a shot in the just over 13 minutes of work.

"I try not to think about it," Kiprusoff said. "Usually when you get pulled, you haven't done your job. Like I said, I can't be happy with that. Nothing I can do now."

"I don't think anybody can be happy," Flames coach Mike Keenan said. "I don't think Miikka would be very happy giving up five goals on (20) shots. A change was necessary."

Calgary thought it halved the deficit midway through the final session, but after a lengthy video review, it was determined that Mark Smith had deflected Sarich's shot from the right point with a high stick.

Blue-liners Adrian Aucoin and Robyn Regehr each had two assists for the Flames, who had won their last six road contests.