Alex Burrows fired a hat-trick for the second consecutive game and Roberto Luongo recorded his 50th career shutout as the red-hot Vancouver Canucks blanked the Phoenix Coyotes 4-0 on Thursday.
Burrows, who collected his second career hat-trick in five seasons in a 7-3 decision over Columbus on Tuesday, waited just two days to notch his third, with the sellout crowd at GM Place celebrating the feat by showering the ice with baseball caps.
“I wish I knew [how they were going in]; right now I’m just getting shots through and they are finding ways to beat goalies,” Burrows said. “Before the last two games I think I went 10 without a goal so I just kept working hard and right now it’s paying off. I was kind of lucky, but it was a big win for us.”
It was also a successful night for Burrows’ Swedish line mates, with Henrik Sedin collecting three assists to take over the NHL points scoring lead with twin brother Daniel aiding twice.
Mikael Samuelsson claimed Vancouver’s other goal.
The offensive burst was supported by a flawless performance by netminder Roberto Luongo, who stopped 31 shots to register his third shutout of the season.
The performance should attract the attention of Team Canada coaches, who are expected to hand the starting netminding assignment at next month’s Vancouver Olympics to Luongo or Martin Brodeur, the NHL’s all-time leader in shutouts and wins.
“It’s halfway to Marty so I’ve got a little bit of work to do,” Luongo laughed. “I was able to make the first save and the guys were really doing a good job in front of net taking care of the rebounds. I don’t think there were many second opportunities. We’ve got to win as many games as we can, you look at the standings and it’s very tight right now.”
Burrows had the first period’s only goal while Samuelsson notched his 100th career score in the second to push the Canucks ahead 2-0.
Vancouver came out flying in the third, Burrows scoring twice in the first five minutes to complete the scoring and his hat-trick.
With their seventh win in eight games the streaking Canucks move into a tie with the Calgary Flames for the top spot in the Northwest standings, setting up a showdown with their division rivals today.
BLACKHAWKS 5, BRUINS 2
In Boston, Chicago came from two goals down to beat the home team, reclaiming the outright NHL lead.
Duncan Keith scored two goals and assisted on another to help Chicago come back after being 2-0 down after eight minutes.
Keith and Tomas Kopecky tied it before the end of the first period. Andrew Ladd gave Chicago the lead inside two minutes of the second, and Keith made it 4-2 midway through the period. Patrick Kane completed the scoring with two minutes left.
The win moved Chicago two points clear of San Jose for the league lead.
CAPITALS 5, SENATORS 2
In Washington, Nicklas Backstrom scored twice in the third period and Alex Ovechkin added his first goal since becoming Capitals captain as the hosts beat Ottawa.
Ovechkin also assisted on both of Backstrom’s goals.
Boyd Gordon and Mike Knuble had goals for the Capitals in the first period.
Chris Phillips scored for the Senators in the second, and Jonathan Cheechoo added one late in the third for Ottawa.
RED WINGS 2, KINGS 1
In Los Angeles, rookie goaltender Jimmy Howard made a career-high 51 saves to lift Detroit to a win over Los Angeles.
In other NHL action, it was:
• Flyers 7, Penguins 4
• Thrashers 2, Rangers 1, SO
• Canadiens 2, Panthers 0
• Ducks 4, Blues 2
• Predators 4, Hurricanes 2
• Blue Jackets 4, Oilers 2
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