LOUUUUUU
The Vancouver Canucks took advantage of the consistent scoring of the Sedin twins and solid team defence to defeat the Minnesota Wild 3-0 in a milestone victory for Roberto Luongo Wednesday at Rogers Arena.
Luongo capped off his 700th career game with a shutout, the 57th of his career against the Wild, looking comfortable all night against a mild Minnesota team.
The Hat Trick
More Sedin Magic
On the same day Puck Daddy’s Harrison Mooney succinctly summarized the consistent talent of the Sedin twins, both Henrik and Daniel put up a pair of points in another convincing victory.
Daniel Sedin’s 18th of the season opened the scoring with a simple screen and shot, however the Sedins’ second offering featured signature passing you won’t see in most NHL arenas.
Henrik Sedin’s backhand saucer pass to brother Daniel was a thing of beauty, leaving brother Daniel to give Burrows a tap-in with a quick touch pass.
Mild Minnesota
The Minnesota Wild may have turned the page on their poor end to 2011, but the return of Devin Setoguchi failed to spark any offensive output from Mike Yeo’s struggling team. The Canucks were in cruise control all night, relying on solid team defence to stifle Minnesota.
Roberto Luongo was solid in his 700th career regular season game in the NHL - (AP Photo/THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)
Devin Setoguchi had a pair of solid chances but was stymied by Luongo who looked calm and comfortable when called upon against the Wild.
Luongo Locks It Down
Roberto Luongo was solid in his 700th career regular season game in the NHL, capping off the milestone in style with a 24 save shutout victory. While Luongo wasn’t called upon often, his body language and proficient positional play demonstrated a goaltender focussed on the moment against Minnesota.
V’s Thoughts
Vancouver maintained control all night Wednesday against Minnesota on a night when the Canucks easily could have been caught looking ahead to Saturday’s Stanley Cup Final rematch against the Boston Bruins. With a shutout victory in their back pocket, now the team can comfortably look ahead to revenge against the Stanley Cup champions.
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT
“I feel a little bit old thinking about 700 games, it was a nice milestone to get but I think the win is even sweeter,” said Luongo when asked of the milestone shutout victory.
3 Stars
1st. Roberto Luongo – SAVE PCTG: 1.000
2nd. Alexandre Burrows – GOALS: 1| PTS: 1| ASST: 0 SOG: 3| PLUS/MINUS: 2
3rd. Daniel Sedin – GOALS: 1| PTS: 2| ASST: 1 SOG: 5| PLUS/MINUS: 2
BOXSCORE | Q’s POST GAME RECAP
Vancouver 3, Minnesota 0
When: 10:00 PM ET, Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Where: Rogers Arena, Vancouver, British Columbia
Referees: Tim Peel, Gord Dwyer
Linesmen: Thor Nelson, Vaughan Rody
Attendance: 18890
About Kevin Vanstone
