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Canucks jump out early, beat Wild

Nov 17, 2007 - 7:09 AM By Daniel Fung PA Sportsticker Contributing Writer

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Ticker) -- The Vancouver Canucks did not look like a team struggling on offense Friday.

Taylor Pyatt, Markus Naslund and defenseman Mattias Ohlund each scored in the first 12 minutes to propel the Canucks to a 6-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild in a matchup of Nortwest Division rivals.

Brendan Morrison and Henrik Sedin had two assists apiece for Vancouver, which has not lost in regulation in its last five contests (4-0-1).

"I was pleased with the way we played," Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said. "We all know Minnesota's identity, but I've been very happy with the way we've been playing lately and happy with the way we've been playing at home.

"Tonight, finally, we got rewarded offensively for all our hard work, so hopefully it's a step in the right direction."

After getting shut out, 1-0, at home in a shootout by the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday, the Canucks quickly opened the scoring in this one when Pyatt tallied just under three minutes into the game. Brad Isbister managed to wrestle away the puck from a Wild defenseman in the right corner and centered it to a wide-open Pyatt, who beat goaltender Josh Harding to the glove side at 2:46 for his fifth goal of the season.

Vancouver doubled its lead at 9:16 with Minnesota's Pierre-Marc Bouchard in the penalty box for hooking. Naslund deposited a rebound past Harding after the netminder stopped Sedin's shot from the point.

"It's easier to play when you've got the lead and they have to play a different game to play that's tough to penetrate," Naslund said. "Now they have to score a little bit, and they open up a little bit that way."

Minnesota appeared to halve the deficit when enforcer Derek Boogaard knocked a puck out of mid-air and past goalie Roberto Luongo on a centering pass by defenseman Brent Burns that bounced high. The goal, however, immediately was waved off by officials for a high stick, and the decision stood after a brief video review.

That miscue proved costly for the Wild, as the Canucks continued their onslaught, with Ohlund scoring at 11:59 and chasing Harding.

Harding made just seven saves in just under 12 minutes. He was replaced by Niklas Backstrom, who received a rude welcome to the game as Daniel Sedin netted Vancouver's fourth goal of the period on a power play with 3:28 left in the first.

"Of course it's tough when the team is down a couple of goals in the first period," said Backstrom, who started Thursday's game in Edmonton only to be pulled in favor of Harding. "But on that end, there was still a lot of time left, so you can't be too caught in the moment. You have to work on believing in yourself and believing in your team that you can come back."

The Wild got one back as rookie Aaron Voros scored his first career goal just 13 seconds later. Former Canucks defenseman Keith Carney fired a seemingly harmless shot from just inside the left faceoff circle that Voros - a Vancouver native - deflected past Luongo.

Any thought of the Wild using that goal as momentum was quickly squashed early in the second period. Trevor Linden picked off a poor clearing attempt by Backstrom along the right wing boards and fired a shot into the top left corner of the open net as the Finn was unable to get back into his crease in time.

"We stuck to our game and managed to play pretty sound hockey tonight," Linden said. "It's nice to score some goals and certainly win at home."

The third period was highlighted by a flurry of infractions. The clubs combined for 49 penalty minutes in the final session, and Boogaard and Ohlund both received game misconducts in the final five minutes.

"In my mind, there were three incidents in that game - three elbows to the head, two to Ryan Kesler, Gaborik had one. That's exactly what the league is supposed to look at," Vigneault said. "There was another one on Kes behind the net, I don't remember the player from Minnesota, and then there was Koivu on (Ohlund).

"Obviously, you take an elbow to the face, there's going to be some frustration there. (Ohlund) probably didn't exert his reaction the right way."

Blue-liner Luc Bourdon, who was the 10th overall pick in the 2005 draft, scored his first career goal with 2:03 remaining, giving Vancouver a 6-2 advantage and its highest scoring output of the season.

"It was great getting the first one out of the way," Bourdon said. "It's always huge, you know, anywhere in the league, and it's always a good memory if it's your first goal."

Luongo, coming off his first shutout of the season in a losing effort, made 20 saves.

The Canucks improved to 7-0-1 against division opponents.

"We have to make sure to keep this going," Luongo said. "We have a few more big games against divisional teams in this stretch, so we need to keep focused and keep playing well against them."

Minnesota, which had not lost to Vancouver in regulation in its previous five meetings, has now dropped eight of its last 11 contests overall.

"At the start of the season, we had three scoring lines and then after that, when we got the injuries, we dropped to one scoring line, so it was a little harder to win," Wild coach Jacques Lemaire said. "Although some games we really played well and didn't win, but we've just got to get it together and go back to work."