Morrow leaves Canucks seeing Stars
Canadian Press
10/27/2002
VANCOUVER (CP) - Dallas Stars head coach Dave Tippett didn't like what he saw from Brenden Morrow in his last game against Calgary. So, he sat the winger down for a chat and then put him right back out on the ice against Vancouver.
Whatever the coach said worked.
Morrow scored two goals, including the game-winner, as the Stars beat the Canucks 4-1 in front of a sellout crowd of 18,422 at GM Place on Saturday.
``I'm not really sure what the deal was in Calgary,'' Morrow said. ``(Tippett) saw something that he maybe didn't think I was doing right and sat me down. He didn't really tell me what the problem was but he put me back in tonight, he showed a little faith in me. I'm glad he did.''
Morrow notched the game-winner 2:29 into the third period. Canucks goaltender Dan Cloutier made the initial blocker save off Scott Young's shot but the puck bounced into the air, hit the shaft of Morrow's stick and bounced into the net.
He then iced the win two minutes later when he backhanded a rebound under a sprawling Cloutier to give Dallas a 3-1 lead.
``I don't think I've ever made a highlight tape,'' Morrow said. ``They're either going off my leg or my head or I'm bunting them in like I did tonight. There aren't many pretty ones but they all count.''
Mike Modano scored a short-handed goal into and empty net and Jere Lehtinen also scored for the Stars, who improved to 5-2-2-0 this season.
Marty Turco, who backed up Ron Tugnutt in Dallas's two previous games, was nearly perfect in goal as he made 27 saves.
Todd Bertuzzi scored the lone goal for Vancouver while Cloutier made 25 saves.
After beginning the season with two straight wins, the Canucks have just one victory in their past seven games (1-3-3) and dropped to 3-3-3-0 on the season.
``The game was there for us in the third period,'' said Canucks captain Markus Naslund. ``We have to learn not to hit ourselves in the head. We've been in this situation before and it's about time we woke up and played 60 minutes of hockey.''
On the bright side, the Canucks, one of the league's best penalty killers, held Dallas scoreless in four power-play chances. Vancouver was 1-for-5 with the man-advantage.
The Canucks had a great chance to open the scoring in the first period just seconds after killing off a penalty. Markus Naslund passed the puck to Brendan Morrison on a two-on-one rush but Turco came up with a beautiful sweeping pad save.
``You always want to play well on the road and it's so difficult, especially against a team like Vancouver,'' said Turco. ``The fans are great here. But tonight we felt great. To get that first road win for me this year, it felt great for the team period. It was certainly a fun one to play.''
The two teams remained scoreless until Dallas picked up a goal 4:38 into the second period.
Brent Sopel had the puck in his own corner when he was hit by Lehtinen. Rob DiMaio then grabbed the puck and passed it to Lehtinen, who had moved out in front of the net, and the right-winger rifled a wrist shot over Cloutier's glove for his fifth goal of the season.
But the Canucks, who have struggled with the man-advantage, tied the score on their second power play. With Vancouver set up in the Stars' zone, Morrison fired a cross-ice pass to Bertuzzi, who one-timed a slapshot past Turco.
The Canucks had a chance to take the lead a few minutes later when Klatt set up Daniel Sedin right in front of the net but Turco came up big, stopping the Swedish winger's shot and Baumgartner's rebound attempt.
Dallas sealed the win with Morrow's two consecutive goals.
``Last game, (Morrow) was down on himself, he didn't think his performance was up to par,'' said Tippett. ``Tonight I thought he rebounded and had a heck of a game. It's a real credit to him.''
Notes: Harold Druken, the Canucks' projected No. 2 centre going into training camp, was scratched from the lineup after refusing a two-week conditioning stint with the Manitoba Moose. Druken, who is on a one-way contract, has one goal and one assist in two games for Vancouver this season. ... Stars defenceman Richard Matvichuk is just one game shy of 600 career in the NHL. ... The last time these two teams played, Feb. 28 in Vancouver, Mike Modano scored the winning goal with just one second left in overtime.
Cheers,
Aquaman