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Canucks aim to build momentum against Ducks

Mar 9, 2015 - 3:26 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Vancouver Canucks hope to build off an important win when they kick off a five-game homestand in Monday's Pacific Division battle against the first-place Anaheim Ducks.

The Canucks had lost two straight and three of four heading into Saturday's divisional clash against the San Jose Sharks, who had slammed Vancouver, 6-2, earlier in the week. Willie Desjardins' club was able to recover from that lopsided home loss, however, rallying for a 3-2 regulation decision in San Jose.

Vancouver enters Monday in second place in the division with 78 points, one more than Calgary. The Canucks are three ahead of Los Angeles and six in front of San Jose.

The Ducks, meanwhile, hold a comfortable 13-point lead over Vancouver for first place in the Pacific.

The division leaders have dominated the Canucks in recent years, taking nine of the past 10 meetings in this series. Vancouver won a 2-1 shootout decision in the first of five encounters in 2014-15, but Anaheim claimed the next three tilts.

The Ducks have won six straight in Vancouver and have gained at least a point in 10 straight trips (8-0-2) to Rogers Arena.

Vancouver fell behind 2-0 in the first period of Saturday's game versus the Sharks, who had jumped out to a 3-0 advantage in Tuesday's road win over the Canucks.

This time, the Canucks would end the contest with three unanswered goals, including two from Radim Vrbata, to edge San Jose.

Vrbata cut the deficit in half when he tallied with 39 seconds left in the opening period. He later completed the scoring by notching his 25th of the season with a power-play marker at 5:21 of the third.

"It was a four-point game," Vrbata said of the point swing. "If we would have lost they would get really close to us. This way we open a cushion again and overall it was a big effort, especially in this building."

Bo Horvat scored in the second period for the Canucks, while Eddie Lack made 38 saves for the win. Daniel Sedin recorded two assists.

Lack is just 1-4-2 with a 3.17 goals against average in seven career games against Anaheim, but he is likely to start on Monday. Regular No. 1 goaltender Ryan Miller is still sidelined with a sprained knee and may not be back for a few more weeks.

The Ducks hope to rebound tonight after having a four-game winning streak halted with Friday's 5-2 loss against visiting Pittsburgh. Patric Hornqvist scored twice for the Penguins, who tallied three times in the second period while building a 4-0 cushion.

Corey Perry and Tomas Fleischmann scored in the loss and Frederik Andersen allowed four goals on 20 shots.

"Couple of bad bounces off the glove that went in," said Andersen, who fell to 1-1-0 in two games since returning from a head injury. "You're going to have those nights."

Anaheim, which leads the NHL with 91 points, is beginning a three-game road trip tonight. The Ducks have won five straight as the guest and boast a 20-8-4 mark away from Orange County.

The Canucks are 17-12-1 as the host this season. Next up will be Thursday's game against the Kings.