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Slumping Canucks look to bounce back against Blackhawks

Feb 10, 2008 - 3:38 PM Chicago (24-25-5) at Vancouver (27-22-7) 10:00 pm EST

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Ticker) - Coming off of one of its worst losses of the season, the struggling Vancouver Canucks hope to get back on track against the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday.

Vancouver was trounced, 6-2, by Colorado on Saturday, for its second-worst defeat of the season. Philadelphia defeated the Canucks, 8-2, in the third game of the season on October 10.

Daniel Sedin had two assists in Saturday's loss for the Canucks, who are just 2-6-3 in their last 11 contests. The left wing leads the team with 24 goals and 56 points.

But despite their recent struggles, the Canucks have had success against the Blackhawks, winning both meetings this season and nine of their last 10 contests against Chicago dating back to the start of the 2005-06 campaign.

The Blackhawks snapped a five-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory over Calgary on Thursday.

Goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin snapped a personal 10-game losing skid, stopping 26 shots in the win, while rookie Patrick Sharp had the go-ahead goal in the second period and added an assist.

"It was big the way we won the game," Sharp said. "They definitely had their chances to score and tie the game up. (Khabibulin) played great. I know there's been a lot of talk about his winless streak. That's a team stat, that's not on him. He's been playing great all year for us."

It was also the third straight game with a tally for Sharp, who leads the team with 25 goals this season.