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Hansen’s goal lifts Canucks over Avalanche
Associated Press
March 9, 2010
Denver, CO — Jannik Hansen scored the decisive goal with 2:08 remaining, Mikael Samuelsson had his first NHL hat trick, and the Vancouver Canucks rallied to beat the Colorado Avalanche 6-4 on Tuesday night.
Hansen snapped the tie with an unusual goal that was confirmed by video replay. Aaron Rome took a shot from the point that bounced off the end boards. Hansen rushed into the crease between the net and goalie Craig Anderson, and the puck caromed in off his skate.
Daniel Sedin added an empty-net goal with 8.8 seconds left to seal the Canucks’ fourth straight win over Colorado. The Avalanche were denied in their bid to move into a tie with Northwest Division-leading Vancouver.
Down 3-0 and 4-1, Vancouver pulled within 4-3 when Samuelsson scored his third goal of the night at 18:18 of the second period, picking up a loose puck in the crease and tapping it past Anderson.
The Canucks tied it with 11:56 remaining when Alex Burrows, positioned in front of Anderson, deflected in Christian Erhoff’s shot.
Colorado scored three goals in the first period, netting the first two in a 28-second span.
Peter Mueller, skating behind the net, got the puck out to Matt Duchene(notes). He punched it in with shot from just outside the right post at 6:17 of the first period.
T.J. Galiardi set up the second goal, passing the puck ahead to Chris Stewart, who gathered speed skating down the right side and ripped a slap shot from a tough angle near the lower edge of the circle. The puck beat goalie Roberto Luongo’s glove and the right post.
The Avalanche made it 3-0 on Duchene’s second goal of the night and 23rd of the season at 13:26 of the first.
Paul Statsny, matching a career-high with his 50th assist, fed Duchene in the slot. Duchene wristed the puck into the net on the power play. He benefited when the puck glanced off the skate Vancouver defenseman Alexander Edler, causing a change of direction that Luongo could not adjust to in time.
Vancouver scored it first goal when Samuelsson netted his first at 6:40 of the second period, but the Avalanche came right back on an unassisted score by Mueller 36 seconds later.
Samuelsson made it 4-2 at 11:45 of the second, knocking a rebound past Anderson.
NOTES: Duchene leads NHL rookies with 10 power-play goals. … Mueller has at least one point in each of his four games for Colorado since being acquired a week ago in a trade with Phoenix. … Samuelsson boosted his point total to a career-high 46. His 27 goals this season rank second on the Canucks to Burrows’ 30.
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Flyers beat Islanders for 15th straight time
Associated Press
March 9, 2010
Philadelphia, PA — Simon Gagne fired a pass toward Mike Richards, but New York Islanders defensemen Mark Streit’s stick got in the way.
The lucky deflection sent the puck past goalie Dwyane Roloson with 6:06 left to play, and completed a Philadelphia Flyers rally for a 3-2 win Tuesday night. Philadelphia beat the Islanders for the 15th straight time, the NHL’s longest current run by one team over another.
“I was trying to pass it hard to Richie, and it hit the stick and went in,” Gagne said. “I’ll be honest with you. It was a pass.”
Philadelphia improved to 2-17 when trailing after two periods.
The Flyers, who lead the league in penalty minutes, scored their final two goals on power plays. They roared back from a 2-0 deficit. Claude Giroux tied the game six minutes earlier with a backhander past Roloson.
Jeff Carter also scored for the Flyers, who started their streak against the Islanders on Feb. 12, 2008. Philadelphia has outscored New York 51-25 during the run.
“It’s a win,” Richards said. “We came back. We didn’t play great, which is disappointing, but we found a way to win. We’ll take the two points, but we have to get better.”
John Tavares and Kyle Okposo had goals for the Islanders, who have won only three times in 12 games.
Four of Philadelphia’s five wins over the Islanders this season have been by one goal. The Flyers will go for 16 straight against them on April 1 at Nassau Coliseum, in the final meeting of the season.
The NHL record for consecutive wins for one team over another is held by the Boston Bruins, who beat the Ottawa Senators 17 straight times between Oct. 12, 1993 and Nov. 9, 1995.
The Flyers are 7-3-1 in their last 11 games. On Tuesday, they had to fight through early injuries to James van Riemsdyk, Lukas Krajicek and Dan Carcillo that caused a disruption to their line rotation. All three returned to the game.
“I was glad to hear they were going to be back. We just weren’t sure when,” Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said. “They end up going up, we’re trying to make some offense happen, it’s not working, you’re losing some guys on the bench and you’re wondering if it’s one of those nights.”
It turned out to be one of those nights for the Islanders, who can’t seem to beat Philadelphia.
“I thought we played well,” Roloson said. “We did the things we had to do to win a hockey game. It doesn’t matter who we play—it’s a team. They put their equipment on. They put their jerseys on. They play the game just like we do, so we can’t mentally or physically worry about what they have done in the past.”
Tavares, the No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft, broke a 17-game scoreless drought when he flicked his rebound past Michael Leighton in the first period. Okposo gave New York a 2-0 lead in the second period with a slap shot.
“Being a goal-scorer and an offensive guy, it’s always nice to contribute,” said Tavares, who scored for the first time since Jan. 16. “To get one finally it’s nice, but it’s time to move forward.”
This late in the season, with the Flyers challenging for playoff position, every point is huge.
“We’re trying to keep it simple, only worry about one game at a time, and not get caught up in a big picture,” Laviolette said. “The Islanders just beat Chicago, they could’ve beat Boston.
“They’re a good hockey team, and can beat anybody. If you look past them because you got Boston or Chicago down the road (the Flyers next two opponents), you’re going to find yourself in a lot of trouble. We did a good job staying in this game here and staying focused.”
NOTES: Flyers captain Richards has eight points (two goals, six assists) in the five games since returning from the Olympic break. … Gagne has five goals and an assist since the break. … The Flyers also owned 14-game win streaks over the Atlanta Thrashers (2005-09) and Los Angeles Kings (1978-82). … Islanders LW Matt Moulson has his point streak snapped at five games. … New York G Rick DiPietro was placed on the injured list because of a knee injury.
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