Vancouver Canucks rebound against Minnesota Wild with 3-0 shutout -NHL Update
The Vancouver Canucks are not having the best season but that did not stop them from adding to Minnesota's woes by shutting out Wild, 3-0, on Wednesday night, January 4, 2012, at the sold-out Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, United States.
Minnesota has now fallen from the second number spot in the Western Conference to the sixth position with 48 points, while Vancouver is now safe at the top spot with 53 points, having snapped its two-game losing streak.
Roberto Luongo was having a top level game as he blocked all 28 of Minnesota's shots on his net, which surprisingly was the third straight shutout against Wild.
"We got off to a two-goal lead, and that was all we needed because our goaltender was on top of his game", said Vancouver Canucks' head coach, Alain Vigneault.
Daniel Sedin and Alex Burrows kicked off the scoring by potting two straight in the opening period of the contest.
Sedin was assisted by his brother, Henrik Sedin, to get his 18th goal of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season, and then came out to assist Burrows at the midway mark.
Minnesota failed to capitalise on a power play opportunity in the scoreless second period while Manny Malhotra finalised the match with his third of the season, off an assist by Ryan Kesler, with 29 seconds remaining in the final 20 minutes of regulation.
Vancouver has the next contest against its Stanley Cup rivals, the Boston Bruins, on Saturday, making that contest a must watch as Canucks gear up for an intense and exciting competition.
"It's going to be fun", Burrows said. "It's a different year; it's another year for us. We're trying to prepare like it's another game. They're at the top of the League again this year, so it's going to be a great measuring stick, playing in their building in front of their fans”.
Minnesota has a lot of catching up to do in the West and needs to make a comeback as it has not been able to get consecutive wins ever since Winnipeg Jets snapped its seven-game winning streak.
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