|
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- The Vancouver Canucks used
goals from two unlikely sources to beat the New York Islanders.
Matt Cooke and Murray Baron both ended lengthy scoring droughts,
complementing Markus Naslund's 33rd goal, as the Canucks beat the
Islanders 3-2 on Sunday night.
"I score so few, so any goal is nice, but it's especially nice
to get a game-winner," said Baron, who netted the go-ahead goal
5:07 into the third period.
Baron pounced on a loose puck at the top of the crease and
back-handed in his third goal and first in 12 games past a sprawling
Rick DiPietro, who made the initial save on Henrik Sedin, but
couldn't control the rebound.
"I came down on a pinch and I was heading back out and the puck
just landed on my stick in front of the net," Baron said.
Cooke opened the scoring and ended a 26-game goal-scoring slump
with his 12th goal at 6:02 of the first period.
"It's great to be hugged again," Cooke said. "When it went
in, it was just a huge monkey off my back."
Naslund's power-play goal 8:39 into the second made it 2-0 for
Vancouver, which won for the second time in as many nights despite
a 1-for-9 effort with the man advantage.
New York pulled DiPietro with 47 seconds left, but couldn't
generate significant pressure in the Vancouver end to get the
equalizer.
"Too many of our guys had to kill penalties and then they were
just too tired to play five-on-five," Islanders coach Butch Goring said.
"Nine power plays is just too many. You can argue some were good
calls and some were bad calls, but we spent a lot of minutes in the
penalty box."
Dan Cloutier, acquired Feb. 7 in a trade with Tampa Bay, stopped
22 shots for his first victory in two starts with the Canucks.
"It's nice to get that first win out of the way, especially for
me because they haven't been coming easily," said Cloutier, who
recorded his last victory Jan. 10 against Toronto. "It's been a
while."
Tim Connolly and Kenny Jonsson answered with power-play goals
for the Islanders, who were trying to win consecutive games for the
first time since Nov. 1. New York finished 2-for-4 on the power
play.
DiPietro, who earned his first NHL victory at Edmonton on
Friday, made his second consecutive start. The 19-year-old rookie made
28 saves, including a spectacular glove stop on Scott Lachance
midway through the second period, but fell to 1-6-0.
"It was a tough loss but the guys worked their hearts out
again," DiPietro said. "It's clear that we're making some serious
strides here in the right direction. If we keep putting in the
effort and stay out of the box, I think we're going to be
successful."
After Cooke and Naslund staked the Canucks to a 2-0 lead midway
through the second period, the Islanders answered with a pair of
power-play goals.
Connolly's power-play point shot with 2:57 left in the second
cut New York's deficit to 2-1. Jonsson tied it 2:41 into the third
with a power-play floater from the point that somehow found its way
past Cloutier high on the glove side.
Vancouver's No. 1 center Andrew Cassels returned after missing
10 games with a broken toe.
Game notes
The
Islanders split a two-game road trip. ... Vancouver plays its next
four games on the road.
 Send this story to a friend
|
|
ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
NY Islanders Clubhouse
Vancouver Clubhouse
RECAPS
Carolina 5
Boston 4
Minnesota 3
San Jose 1
Chicago 3
Los Angeles 0
Ottawa 4
Montreal 0
Detroit 2
Dallas 1
Nashville 3
Tampa Bay 2
Calgary 4
Phoenix 1
Vancouver 3
NY Islanders 2
|
