Ryan Kesler powers Vancouver Canucks to their sixth straight win against Minnesota Wild
Ryan Kesler is back and at it again, scoring two goals for the Vancouver Canucks, as they took an early lead to defeat the Minnesota Wild 4-2, Monday night at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper was also present in the stadium along with former Canucks player Trevor Linden in the regular seats amongst the sold out crowd of 18,860.
Manny Malhotra and Mikael Samuelsson picked up two assists each to extend Minnesota’s losing streak to three games and raise their own to six wins in a row, playing their first home game after a five-game perfect road trip ending with the Calgary Flames
last Saturday.
Roberto Luongo made 33 crucial saves to dominate the Wild and increased their points to 101, the most in the National Hockey League and the first to pass the century line this season. Minnesota stands 11th in the Western Conference with 77 points,
below the Anaheim Ducks with 79.
Raffi Torres scored the opening goal for Vancouver within two minutes time, replaying after a shot missed by Wild Captain Mikko Koivu who returned to the line-up after remaining absent for 11 games, due to a broken finger.
Daniel Sedin extended his NHL leading goals to 38 during a power-play when Clayton Stoner was penalized for interfering. Stoner gave Vancouver another added man advantage, as Kesler added his first of the night, closing the period 3-0.
Koivu set up Andrew Brunette from the corner, late in the second with three minutes remaining, getting their first of the match when rebounding one of his own taken shots. He was unable to capitalise on four power-play chances given by the Canucks throughout
the second 20 minutes.
Brunette returned the favour to Koivu at 4:32 of the final period, raising Minnesota’s hope of at least tying the match, but again unable to take advantage of two power-plays in the final moments, with Kesler who was out at 17:50 for two minutes, came right
back scoring within six seconds on an empty net to take the match 4-2.
The Canucks face Colorado and Phoenix in the upcoming two home games, following another four-game road trip starting with conference rivals the Detroit Red Wings next Wednesday.
Minnesota will try to win the last match of their four-game road trip, losing all previous three. They will go up against the Canucks in April to finalise their meetings in the 2010-2011 NHL season.
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