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Naslund helps Canucks douse Flames

Nov 19, 2007 - 4:40 AM VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Ticker) -- The Vancouver Canucks continue to steamroll through the Northwest Division.

Markus Naslund and Henrik Sedin each had a goal and an assist as the Canucks defeated the Calgary Flames, 4-1, on Sunday.

Vancouver remains the only team yet to lose in regulation to a division opponent, improving to 8-0-1. Unfortunately for the Canucks, they are 2-8-0 against all other teams this season.

"It's always important to play well against your division opponents," Naslund said. "Hopefully we can keep that going."

Sedin opened the scoring just 2:49 into the game.

After Calgary failed to clear the puck in its own defensive zone, Sedin backhanded the puck over the glove of Miikka Kiprusoff for his fifth goal of the season.

Defenseman Adrian Aucoin leveled the game just over two minutes later.

The former Canuck blasted a slap shot from just inside the blue line which glanced off Taylor Pyatt's hip and past Roberto Luongo to square the game at 1-1.

It was the only goal allowed by Luongo, who made 29 saves.

"He played really well," Flames captain Jarome Iginla of Luongo. "I didn't think we created enough really huge opportunities. He made a few key saves, but a lot of our shots were from the outside. We weren't really penetrating and we didn't make it tough enough on him tonight."

Defenseman Willie Mitchell regained the lead for the Canucks midway through the second period, courtesy of a brilliant play by Naslund.

Naslund circled behind the net and wound up at the right faceoff circle, drawing the collective attention of the Flames. The Vancouver captain then fed Mitchell, who skated in behind the play, and beat Kiprusoff from the left faceoff circle for his first goal of the season.

Mitchell downplayed the importance of his first goal since he tallied against the Minnesota Wild on January 11.

"It was nice," he said. "Markus made a picture-perfect pass, so I had a little hole and basically tapped it in."

The Canucks doubled their advantage after some brilliant passing with 2:08 left in the second period.

Brendan Morrison centered a puck from the left wing boards to Daniel Sedin, who one-touched a pass to his brother at the right faceoff circle. Henrik Sedin then fired a cross-ice pass to Naslund, who took the puck off his skate and beat an out-of-position Kiprusoff for his sixth goal of the season.

"It's nice to score for sure," said Naslund, who played the majority of the night flanked by the Sedin twins. "It's nice to win. It's nice to play with the same linemates consistently, too. We've got a lot of lines now that are working."

Brad Isbister scored his first goal as a member of the Canucks with 5:35 expired in the third period.

Taking advantage of a Calgary turnover in its own zone, Isbister blasted a shot from the high slot to give Vancouver a 4-1 lead.

Kiprusoff finished with 17 saves.

Before the game, Vancouver defenseman Mattias Ohlund was suspended four games by the National Hockey League after his slash on Minnesota's Mikko Koivu during Friday's game.

The incident occurred at 16:06 of the third period and Ohlund was assessed a slashing major and game misconduct. Koivu suffered a fractured left fibula on the play and is expected to miss at least a week of action.

Lukas Krajicek replaced Ohlund in the lineup on Sunday.

"I didn't think (Ohlund) was going to get suspended, that was the first indication that we got anyways," Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said. "But I said (to Krajicek), 'We have no practice time for you this week. Can you play four games in six nights? We can work your conditioning in during the games and give you 12-13 minutes a game.'

"He hasn't been able to do a lot because he hasn't been able to put any weight on the foot. He said he was fine and once he said he was fine, we decided to play him. I thought he played safe. We gave him minutes for him to feel his way through and it worked out well. I thought he played a good game."