The NHL-leading Vancouver Canucks continued their dominating form on Friday, setting franchise records for points and road wins with a 3-1 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers.
It was a ninth win in 10 games for Vancouver and their 24th road victory of the season, moving them to 107 points as they close in on securing the top seed in the Western Conference.
“We did things as a club that we wanted to do. We got that franchise record that we set for ourselves,” said Vancouver’s Mason Raymond, who opened the scoring in the second period.
Photo: Reuters
Alex Bolduc put Vancouver ahead 2-0 with a second-period goal, before Atlanta’s Bryan Little spoiled Roberto Luongo’s shutout bid with a third-period wrist shot.
“I didn’t even think we were going to get one [goal],” Little said.
“We played good in the first period. We didn’t play a bad game. We had some good chances in the third. Seven or eight minutes in the second period, they were all over us in our end. They took advantage. That’s all a team like that needs,” he said.
Alex Burrows then scored into an empty net with 13 seconds left to seal the victory, a franchise -record-equaling 49th of the season.
The victory put the Canucks (49-17-9) 12 points clear of Detroit at the top of the Western Conference standings.
The Thrashers (31-31-12), 11th in the Eastern Conference, fell further behind Buffalo, who hold the eighth and final playoff position.
Penguins 1, Devils 0
In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, James Neal scored in the third round of a shootout as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the New Jersey Devils in a game dominated by goalies Marc-Andre Fleury and Martin Brodeur.
Fleury made 21 saves for his third shutout of the season and 19th of his career. He also stopped Brian Rolston, Ilya Kovalchuk and Patrik Elias in the shootout.
Brodeur extended his NHL shutout record to 116 with his sixth of the season. He made 26 saves and stopped Alexei Kovalev in the shootout. Kris Letang missed the net leading off the tiebreaker.
The Penguins moved within two points of idle Philadelphia in the race for both the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference leads.
Senators 2, Capitals 0
In Ottawa, Craig Anderson made 31 saves for his second shutout, with Colin Greening and Erik Condra scoring in Ottawa’s victory over the Washington Capitals.
Anderson has won both of his starts since he signed a four-year, US$12.75 million contract extension on Monday.
Semyon Varlamov stopped 21 shots for Washington, who played their second straight game -without injured captain Alexander Ovechkin.
The Capitals, first in the Southeast Division with 96 points remain two points behind the Flyers for the Eastern Conference lead.
In Friday’s other action, it was:
‧ Sabres 4, Panthers 2
‧ Hurricanes 4, Lightning 3
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