Music: {allcanada} Lack's 20 saves help Canucks edge Blues

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

{allcanada} Lack's 20 saves help Canucks edge Blues

ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite 2013

VANCOUVER -- Jannik Hansen and Eddie Lack teamed up to give the Vancouver Canucks their first win in a month and end their longest losing streak in 15 years.

Hansen scored on a breakaway with 8:47 left in the third period, Lack stopped 20 shots and the Canucks snapped a seven game skid with a 1-0 win against the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night at Rogers Arena.

Fourth-line forward Tom Sestito flipped a backhand high out of his own zone and Hansen skated after it at center ice, outracing defensemen Roman Polak and Carlo Colaiacovo before snapping a quick shot between the blocker and body of Blues goalie Jaroslav Halak.

Lack, a rookie who has won all three starts against the Blues this season, posted his third shutout of the season to give the Canucks their first win since Jan. 26, and their fifth in 20 games in 2014.

The win moves Vancouver into the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference, leapfrogging the idle Dallas Stars and Phoenix Coyotes by a point, though each has played three fewer games.

Halak finished with 34 saves for the Blues, who remained tied with the Chicago Blackhawks atop the Central Division with 84 points.

The 16 players from each team that took part in the 2014 Sochi Olympics were honored in a pre-game ceremony, but only 13 played, not counting Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo, who watched from the bench. The Blues started five of their nine Olympians, with the gold medal-winning pairing of Jay Bouwmeester and Alex Pietrangelo on defense and a new top forward line of Americans David Backes and T.J. Oshie with Swede Patrik Berglund, who moved to left wing.

Vancouver was missing second-line center Ryan Kesler, who injured his hand at the Olympics. But top-line center Henrik Sedin, who missed six of eight games before the break with a rib injury, returned from attending to a personal matter in Sweden in time to play.

The Canucks went into the Olympic break on their worst losing streak since 1999, but came out outshooting the Blues 14-6 in the first period. Halak, coming off a disappointing Olympics for Slovakia, had to be sharp to stop David Booth on a rebound attempt with five minutes left in the period, then held the puck out with his left pad during a scramble on the goal line on the same shift.

At the other end, Lack got a break late in the first period when a shot deflected off a defenseman and hit the post, with the net knocked off its moorings before the loose puck could be knocked in. He kept it scoreless in the second period by turning aside Vladimir Tarasenko on a tip alone in tight early, making a good left pad save off a Backes one-timer in the slot on a delayed penalty midway through and stopping Chris Stewart on a 2-on-1 shot with three minutes left. He got another break when defenseman Alexander Edler kicked away Oshie's shot at an open net during a late power-play scramble.

ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite 2013