Streaking Canucks stomp Jackets
Canadian Press
2/24/2003
VANCOUVER (CP) - It's not that the Vancouver Canucks have a club-record 13-game unbeaten streak that is the longest in the NHL this season.
What they're really doing is working towards the 16 playoff games they'll have to win to capture the first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
"We're preparing ourselves for the playoffs," Trevor Linden, captain of the 1994 Canuck team that took the New York Rangers to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final, said after Sunday night's 7-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
"We're doing our work now, to make sure our team is ready for (the post-season). That's the big test.
"We're playing well now and we're happy with that but in the back of our mind we all know that we've got to be ready in the playoffs.
"We're trying to be disciplined in our game and our approach to our game, how we play in the little areas that people don't really see. Those are the things that allow you to win in the playoffs."
Like scoring a key short-handed goal that gave the Canucks the lead midway through the first period. Linden lugged the puck out of the Vancouver zone and dropped it for Mats Lindgren after crossing the opposing blue-line.
Lindgren's deflected shot snapped a scoreless tie and the Canucks were on their way to an insurmountable 4-0 lead.
"From a defensive side we're getting better and we know that's key," said Linden.
The win, the fourth in a row by the Canucks, stretched their unbeaten record to 9-0-4, eclipsing the 12 games without a loss set earlier this season by Western Conference leader Dallas, which has a two-point edge on Vancouver.
The goal-starved Blue Jackets, who were blanked in their two previous games, have lost five straight and now have only a slim chance of making the playoffs.
While the Canucks have been getting secondary scoring during their streak, it was the big line of Markus Naslund, Todd Bertuzzi and Brendan Morrison that provided the punch.
Both Naslund and Bertuzzi had two goals and two assists while Morrison continued to score at key times with a goal and three assists.
Trevor Letowski got the other Vancouver goal while Espen Knutsen and Geoff Sanderson scored power-play goals for Columbus, which had endured two consecutive shutouts and hadn't scored for 188 minutes 32 seconds.
Naslund got two third-period power-play markers to boost his league-leading goal total to 40, of which 21 have come with the man advantage.
"We've matured as a group (from last year)," said Naslund, who now has three consecutive 40-goal seasons.
"I think when you go through slumps and you go through good stretches you pick up different things. I feel we're a lot older maturity-wise. I hope that means we'll be consistent for the last 20 (games) and going into the playoffs."
Naslund is also not expecting general manager Brian Burke to do much tinkering with the club as the NHL trading deadline approaches.
"That's the least of my concerns right now," Naslund said. "When you've gone 13 games without a loss, obviously you have to believe this is the core group that's going to be here and if they (management) can add without subtracting ... that's up to them.
"We feel strongly about this group, there's no doubt about that."
Morrison, who has scored game-winning goals in the two previous games since he had four teeth removed by Brendan Shanahan's stick Tuesday in Detroit, has points in four consecutive games.
"I really can't explain it," Morrison said after scoring his 17th of the season.
"It's a game of inches sometimes. Now the chances are going in. A lot of guys are pitching in."
Columbus goalie Marc Denis, who played well in beating Vancouver 3-2 here on Jan. 10, said the Blue Jackets are struggling against teams battling for a playoff spot or seeking to improve their playoff seeding.
"So we've got to make a decision here," he said. "You see a team like Vancouver up 7-2 with two minutes left blocking five shots on one shift.
"We've got to find a way here. This is not Columbus Blue Jackets hockey. This doesn't show the pride we have in this organization."
Columbus had a chance to take a 1-0 lead on the first shift of the game but Sanderson's backhand hit the post and stayed out.
"That was the frustrating part," said Columbus coach Doug MacLean. "We had three or four good chances early in the game but we couldn't finish and we haven't been able to finish lately.
Notes: The Blue Jackets play the final contest of their five-game road trip Tuesday in Nashville. Their longest road trip of the season was seen as crucial to making the playoffs for the first time. ... Denis, who sat out Friday in San Jose, has started all but three of his club's 61 games this season. ... Henrik Sedin, who had a sore hand, and Murray Baron were the Canuck scratches. ... A collission between Columbus' Tyler Wright and Vancouver's Darren Langdon shattered glass in the Vancouver end, causing a nine-minute delay in the first period.
Cheers,
Aquaman