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Sedin, Luongo help keep Canucks rolling

Mar 30, 2007 - 6:26 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Daniel Sedin and Roberto Luongo did their best to keep the Vancouver Canucks on a roll.

Sedin had two goals and an assist and Luongo made 32 saves for his league-leading 45th victory as the Canucks skated to a 4-2 triumph over the Los Angeles Kings.

Taylor Pyatt scored a goal and set up another and Henrik Sedin added three assists for Vancouver (47-23-7), which extended its lead over the second-place Minnesota Wild (45-25-8) in the Northwest Division to three points.

The Canucks set a franchise record for wins with the sixth victory in their last seven games. The previous mark of 46 triumphs was set in 1992-93.

Vancouver, which is 8-1-2 in its last 11 meetings with Pacific Division opponents, has 22 road triumphs, one shy of the franchise record established in 2002-03.

After snapping a 1-1 tie with his 35th goal of the season at 6:44 of the second period by batting his own rebound out of mid-air and past Sean Burke, Daniel Sedin set up Pyatt for a backhander that beat the veteran goaltender with just under seven minutes to go in the session for a 3-1 advantage. The Swede added an empty-netter in the final seconds of the third to seal the victory.

"It was a good play," Burke said of Daniel Sedin's first tally. "He tipped it to begin with, and then he batted it out of the air. Not a lot of guys are going to make that play. It was a pretty skilled play.

"When you make the save and the rebound goes up in the air, you don't expect the guy to knock it out of the air. You are following it and, all of a sudden, boom, the guy does something like that. It was a great play."

Luongo stopped 12 shots in each of the first two periods en route to the win, putting him within two of tying the single-season record set by Philadelphia's Bernie Parent in 1973-74. The Canucks have five games remaining.

"(The record) doesn't matter," Luongo said. "The only thing we are worried about now is trying to win a division so we can get a good seed for the playoffs. That's all I'm worried about personally. The records are something you get to enjoy in the summer."

"It's not for nothing that he is the best goalie and has the most wins in the league," Los Angeles rookie Anze Kopitar said. "They rely on him because they allow a lot of shots, and they must rely on his saves."

Kopitar one-timed Brown's pass from the low slot over Luongo's glove at 6:23 of the third period to cut the deficit to 3-2.

"We tried to hold the fort, but they got the second goal," Luongo said. "Fortunately, we tightened up after that."

Dustin Brown recorded a goal and an assist and Michael Cammalleri set up both tallies for the Kings, who have lost three in a row and four of their last five.

Los Angeles, which failed to qualify for the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season, did get a glimpse of its future on defense as Jack Johnson made his NHL debut. Drafted third overall by Carolina in 2005 and traded to the Kings in September, the 20-year-old blue-liner signed a multi-year contract on Tuesday and played nearly 19 minutes vs. Vancouver, recording one shot on goal and a minus-1 rating.

"Obviously, it's a lot quicker than college hockey, but it's a lot of fun," said Johnson, who recently completed his second season at the University of Michigan. "You're also playing with better players. It's tougher, but at the same time easier, in a way. It's hard to explain."