Wednesday, Feb. 28 10:00pm ET
Dallas loses game, Nieuwendyk
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BOX SCORE
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) – The Vancouver Canucks are
becoming a team of interchangeable parts.
Coach Marc Crawford stuck with juggled line combinations for the
second successive game and his club responded with another solid
effort in a 5-4 victory Wednesday night over the Dallas Stars.
"We've been mixing and matching the last few games and it seems
to be working the last couple," said Denis Pederson, who scored
the game-winner at 14:46 of the third period.
"We've got five goals each game and each line is contributing,
which is nice to see. One of our attributes all year is to get all
four lines rolling and when we don't have that it's tough for us to
win.
"We were getting zero, one, two goals a game, but when
everyone's contributing it makes for a better atmosphere."
The result enabled the Canucks to close within one point of the
fifth-place Stars in the Western Conference.
The Stars also lost veteran center Joe Nieuwendyk to a groin injury
and Mike
Modano frequently double-shifted for the
remainder of the game.
Pederson's goal, set up by an aggressive forecheck by Matt
Cooke, was his first in 23 games.
Peter Schaefer, playing with Andrew Cassels and Todd Bertuzzi,
scored his first goal in 19 games.
Cassels and Bertuzzi used to play on the first line with Markus
Naslund, but that didn't stop the Canucks captain from getting his
career-high 37th goal to open the scoring.
Ed Jovanovski broke a 3-3 tie midway through the third period
while Daniel Sedin got the other Vancouver goal.
Jamie Langenbrunner, Sergei Zubov, Grant Marshall and Modano, with his 22nd goal with 14 seconds left in regulation,
scored for Dallas.
Pederson said the key to Vancouver's success was pressuring the
Dallas defensemen and that's how Cooke created the turnover on the
end boards that led to the winning goal.
"Matt just went in there and worked hard and found me in the
slot and I kind of snuck it through," Pederson said.
Schaefer, who took a soft pass from Cassels to give Vancouver a
3-2 lead in the final minute of the second period, said Crawford's
line juggling has rejuvenated the attack.
"We can put any three guys together and it's going to be
strong," Schaefer said. "Teams can't focus on one line or on
Nazzy; it's spread out right now and so far it's working."
Jovanovski said a key to the win was shutting out a power-play
unit for the first time in nine games.
"I think it's all a matter of being patient and kind of let
things come to you," he said. "Don't try to score goals on the
penalty kill. Your job is to prevent them.
"I think everybody bore down because they knew that was what
was costing us games."
Modano said Dallas needed a jump from its usually effective
power play. The Stars didn't get it against the Canucks and they
lost their third in a row on the road. Dallas missed a chance to
take over the Pacific Division lead from San Jose, which lost in
Toronto.
"Our power play wasn't effective and it's something that
usually gets us going on the road," Modano said.
The Stars lost veteran center Joe Nieuwendyk to a groin injury
and that's when Modano, who frequently double-shifted for the
remainder of the game, saw the Canucks gain momentum.
"They scored late in the period and it just kind of ends up
with a bad taste in your mouth for the intermission," Modano said.
"I think the bottom line is trying to create some more shots.
"We had a lot of puck possession and work around the net but
beating guys with the puck and without it is something we have to
be better at."
Nieuwendyk, third among Dallas scorers with 45 points, was
helped off the ice and limped noticeably as he made his way to the
Dallas dressing room. He will be re-evaluated Thursday morning.
"I don't know the severity of it yet, and I probably won't for
a few days," said Nieuwendyk, adding that he doesn't expect to
play Friday at Anaheim or Sunday at home game against Buffalo.
"I'm hoping that it's not too bad and I won't be out too long."
Game notes
The Stars were 0-for-4 on the power play, including three
straight in the first period. ... It was the first time in six
games that Dallas failed to score on the power play. ... The
Canucks played the first of four straight home games. ... Dallas
played its third game of a four-game road trip that concludes
Friday.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Dallas Clubhouse
Vancouver Clubhouse
Stars' Nieuwendyk out at least two games with groin injury
RECAPS
Columbus 5
Phoenix 2
Montreal 4
Pittsburgh 2
NY Rangers 4
Florida 2
Toronto 2
San Jose 1
Edmonton 5
St. Louis 3
Vancouver 5
Dallas 4
Detroit 3
Anaheim 1
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Vancouver's Mattias Ohlund finds Markus Naslund who scores on the wrister.
avi: 482 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
There is a crowd in front of the net, but Jamie Langenbrunner somehow gets the goal.
avi: 615 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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