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Isbister, Burrows lead Canucks to victory

Mar 9, 2008 - 7:51 AM VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Ticker) -- Brad Isbister snapped a tie with just over four minutes remaining in the third period as the Vancouver Canucks skated to a 4-2 triumph over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.

Alex Burrows scored a goal and set up another while Ryan Kesler and Taylor Pyatt recorded two assists apiece for Vancouver (34-24-10), which pulled even in points with the idle Nashville Predators (35-26-8) for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

In addition, the Canucks climbed within two points of the trio of the Calgary Flames (35-23-10), Colorado Avalanche (37-26-6) and Minnesota Wild (37-26-6) for first place in the Northwest Division.

"It's a huge win for us," Canucks captain Markus Naslund said. "I didn't think the intensity was at the level it has to be, but we found a way to win. And obviously, that Kesler line was huge for us, and it's great to see."

Brad Boyes tallied twice and defenseman Barret Jackman added two assists for struggling St. Louis (29-29-10), which fell to 1-7-1 in its last nine games and 10 points out of a postseason berth.

"It's good, but it's not enough," Boyes said of his two-goal effort. "We lost by a goal, they had an empty net, but again, I had more chances that I should have buried.

"We had a few chances in the second to really put them away, and in the third, too, to try and tie it on the power play. We didn't get it done, so (the) pressure's on. We've got to step up and start doing something."

With 4:12 remaining in the third period, Burrows skated into the slot before backhanding a pass to Isbister on the doorstep. Isbister made no mistake, depositing the puck past All-Star goaltender Manny Legace for his fifth goal of the season.

"I was able to beat my man back to the net and (Kesler) made a great pass to feather that one through," Burrows said. "And then that (defenseman) in front had to go to me or go to Izzy - and Izzy was back door wide-open, and I was able to get it to him. He got a great shot on net, and that was a big goal."

"It was a good cycle shift by our line," Isbister said. "(Kesler) made a great play to Burrows, who was going to the net. And (Burrows), the heads-up player that he is, he saw me at the back door and just slid it across."

All-Star Henrik Sedin added an empty-netter with five seconds remaining to seal the win.

Just three days after an MRI revealed that he had bone chips in his left knee that threatened to end his season, Canucks defenseman Mattias Ohlund opened the scoring exactly 6 1/2 minutes into the game.

With Vancouver on a 5-on-3 power play, Ohlund wristed a shot from just inside the blue line that deflected off defenseman Jeff Woywitka's left leg and past Legace for his ninth goal.

"First one, I had no chance," Legace said. "It goes off my D-man and off the post, and it's our luck. Instead of hitting the post and going out, it hits the post and goes in."

Boyes leveled the contest with 4:55 remaining in the first. After his shot sailed wide of the net, Keith Tkachuk corralled his own rebound and backhanded a feed to a trailing Boyes, who quickly wristed the puck past netminder Roberto Luongo for his first goal in nine games.

Boyes scored again with 7:14 remaining in the second period to give St. Louis a 2-1 lead, but he received a bit of unexpected help en route to his 34th goal of the season. The 25-year-old wristed a sharp-angle shot toward the net, and the puck deflected off blue-liner Alex Edler's left skate and past Luongo.

Burrows used his considerable speed to knot the contest just 3:12 later, skating in on Legace before scoring his 11th goal on a backhander.

"I think that my breakaway move is my go-to," Burrows said. "I like to do it on (Luongo in practice) all the time. Now he knows it, it doesn't work anymore on him. I was just happy to get it up in a hurry to beat Legace there. It was a big goal for us."