Stars burn out

Christian Ehrhoff and the Vancouver Canucks prevailed over a Dallas Stars club that initially burned bright, but faded as the game wound down.

Shane O'Brien makes his presence felt (AP Photo/ Canadian Press, Darryl Dyck)

The match had some of the look and feel of the previous night, where Vancouver was outplayed early by the Edmonton Oilers.  Dallas was successful using a quick counterattack against Vancouver.  Though Vancouver went up 1-0 at the 14 minute mark of the first period, Dallas replied only 2 1/2 minutes later with Loui Eriksson beating Loungo for his 21st goal of the season.   Mason Raymond beat former Canuck goaltender Alex Auld with a seeing-eye backhand that found the top corner over Auld’s blocker.

Unfortunately for Alex Auld, this was the most memorable moment of the night after a give-away

There were two goals in the second period, and strangely enough it was a short-handed tally for both clubs.  Tom Wandell sent Toby Petersen in alone on Luongo, who misjudged his quick release slapper.  The Stars owned most of the puck possession for the 2nd frame, and their hard work earned them a late powerplay.  Had they have known what would happen during the Salo (who appeared to hurt his shoulder on the play) tripping minor, they would have declined the penalty.  Alex Burrows sped in on the forecheck, causing Auld to hesitate with the puck on his backhand.   “I gave him the puck and he had an empty net and it seemed to be a big turning point,” said Auld.  “It’s tough to give up a goal like that and lose by one.”

Toby Petersen scores the other 2nd period short-handed goal

With momentum swung in the Canucks favor, they raced out of the gate to begin the third frame.  The Sedin twins had Christian Ehrhoff finish off a beautiful passing play, as he went blocker side on Auld who couldn’t get set because of Ehrhoff’s speed in the slot.  “They made a couple great plays there and I ended up alone,” Ehrhoff said.  Alex Burrows helped initiate the play with a calm stutter move just inside the blueline on Trevor Daley.

Though the Stars employed a similar style game to Vancouver’s, they were fortunate not to be behind on the score sheet earlier.  Alex Edler (clocked with the hardest shot at the Canucks super-skills competition last Sunday) had two booming slapshots ricochet off the post, Auld clueless as to where either rebound went as well.   Unfortunately for the ‘Nucks, one of those rebounds came right out and turned into a 2-on-1 that Dallas capitalized on shorthanded.

Alex Auld tried his best Turco impersonation, with less than desireable results (AP Photo/ The Canadian Press, Darryl Dyck)

Kyle Wellwood busted a 26 game goalless drought on a partial breakaway in the third period.  Because Trevor Daley scored with 2.8 seconds remaining in the contest, he was credited with the game-winner.

Both teams finished with 23 shots, and the win was the Canucks third in a row.  They now sit in a tie with Colorado atop the Northwest division.   Vancouver will have their hands full with the hot Blackhawks, who did the Canucks a favor by beating the sputtering Flames 3-1 Thursday.   24 of the NHL’s 30 teams play on Saturday.   Captain Lou continued his hardhat and lunch-bucket mentality, starting his 21st consecutive game.

Ehrhoff\’s go-ahead goal vs Dallas (just click) Courtesy of Pouya from CanucksHD :p