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Sunday, 10 February 2008
FINAL SO
2 - 3
FINAL SO 1 2 3 OT SO T
Blackhawks 0 0 2 0 0 (0-3) 2
Canucks 0 1 1 0 1 (1-3) 3
GOAL SCORERS

CHI:   P. Sharp (05:44 - 3rd) , C. Barker (15:55 - 3rd)
VAN:   A. Burrows (01:43 - 2nd) , M. Naslund (18:42 - 3rd) , R. Shannon (00:00 - SO)
GOALIES

CHI: N. Khabibulin (L)
 VAN: R. Luongo (W)
Canucks 3, Blackhawks 2, SO
Associated Press


PIC OF THE GAME
(click for full view)

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -Ryan Shannon's spinning shootout goal gave the Vancouver Canucks a much-needed win.

Markus Naslund tied the game with 1:18 left in regulation and Shannon scored the only shootout goal with a controversial spin-o-rama after bumping goalie Nikolai Khabibulin, lifting the Canucks to a wild 3-2 win over Chicago on Sunday night.

"I don't think it matters how pucks go in the net, as long as they do, said Shannon, who was playing in just his second game since being called up from the American Hockey League but said he used the same move against Dallas goalie Marty Turco while playing for Anaheim two seasons ago.

“I tried the move last year and there was a memo sent out to the players that said as long as you keep forward movement it’s an ok move. It wasn’t my intention to embarrass anybody; I was just trying to score,” said Shannon as he defended his game winning shootout goal. “I came in and went out wide to see how he lines up and to see how far out he is.  Then I saw him come with the poke check and I realized that the far side stick wasn’t open so I had to come back.”

Shannon made contact with Khabibulin as he spun back across his body and tucked the puck in on his backhand, drawing complaints from the Blackhawks, and a shot to the back of the head from the stick of the Chicago goalie.

GAME EXTRAS

"I guess there's no such rule against it, so if there's no rule I guess he can do it," said a visibly upset Khabibulin.

"I guess there's no such rule against it, so if there's no rule I guess he can do it," said a visibly upset Khabibulin. "But he's going to pay the price. Show me one goaltender that is going to be happy if he stays in the blue and somebody bumps him. I don't care if it's a penalty shot or whatever."

The game had a bit of everything, including third-period comebacks by both teams.

There was even a penalty shot with 2:07 left in overtime after Chicago defenseman Brent Sopel knocked the net off with the Canucks on a 3-on-1 rush. But Daniel Sedin lost the puck trying to deke to his backhand and didn't even get a shot.

Chicago trailed 1-0 going into the third period, but Patrick Sharp tied it at 5:44, and Cam Barker gave Blackhawks the lead on a strange bounce with 4:05 left.

Barker threw the puck at the net from the blue line, then watched as it bounced off a Canucks player in front of him and arced high into the air, just clearing goalie Roberto Luongo's head before landing on the goal line and bouncing in.

“I thought it was in the netting, but the whistle wasn’t going so I started to back up and next thing you know it lands perfectly across the line,” said Luongo as he described Chicago’s second goal. “That’s just the way things have been going lately but we battled still and didn’t get discouraged after that goal.”

It looked like the Canucks, missing injured defensemen Willie Mitchell (back), Kevin Bieksa (calf), Aaron Mitchell (foot) and Lukas Krajicek (shoulder), were about to lose after having the lead after two periods for the first time this season (20-0-0).

But Naslund tied it with Luongo on the bench for an extra attacker, parking himself at the side of the net and redirecting Mattias Ohlund's bouncing point shot past a helpless Khabibulin.

"It was nice to come back, said Naslund after scoring his 20th goal for a team-record ninth straight season. "We played a strong game. Unfortunately we got some bad bounces, like when you see that puck going over Louie, but we responded and got the win and that's all that matters. I think we deserved the win."

3 STARS
Alex Burrows
Had one goal, two hits, and was one of Vancouver’s best forwards.
Patrick Sharp
Recorded one goal as Chicago’s most threatening forward.
Markus Naslund
Scored the game tying goal with just over a minute left in the game.

Alexandre Burrows also scored and Luongo stopped 16 shots through overtime and Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Sharp in the shootout as the Canucks bounced back from a 6-2 drubbing by Colorado the night before to win for the second time in three games and stay a point behind Nashville and Calgary for eighth place in the Western Conference.

Burrows earned first star credits for another strong performance, and credits the teams success to their hard work.

“Right off the get go Byron got us going and made sure we were going to be ready for the game, I think in the first 20-40 minutes we had a lot of hits and I think guys really competed hard,” said Burrows. “We were where we wanted to be with a 1-0 lead, and in the third we played well but they got a couple lucky ones, especially the second, but we found a way, we played our 60 minutes tonight.”

Coach Alain Vigneault was pleased with his team's performance and how they bounced backed after last night's game.

“Our players played extremely well. They challenged themselves to respond after last nights game and they did. We out-chanced that team 21-8 tonight but for some reason we went in to overtime, but we found a way to win,” said Vigneault. “We got points in four of our last five games, we just played four games in six nights and we had a great effort tonight with a demanding schedule and traveling and I’m really proud of the way our guys competed tonight.”

Chicago lost winger Martin Havlat, who left the game after just one shift in the second period because he was feeling ill. But Toews, who is fourth in team scoring with 32 points and second among all NHL rookies with 15 goals despite missing a month, jumped back onto the top line with fellow rookie Kane and Sharp.

The trio almost combined on the first goal early in the second period, but after Sharp snapped a pass from Toews off the inside of the post, Henrik Sedin took the long rebound and sprung Burrows for a breakaway. Burrows deked to his backhand and lifted the puck just over Khabibulin's glove 1:43 into the second period.

"Our main goal is to shut the other team's top line down," said Burrows who plays on the checking line. "It's a bonus if we can score."

Notes: Canucks C Byron Ritchie and Chicago RW Adam Burish dropped the gloves and fought two seconds into the game. Sharp extended his point streak to four games (four goals and one assist). Havlat only played six shifts and 4 minutes and had his personal four-game point streak snapped. Canucks LW Brad Isbister was back after being a healthy scratch the past five games. Chicago has two games left on a seven-game road trip: in Columbus on Wednesday and Nashville on Thursday.


Three star selections
1st:   ALEX BURROWS
2nd:   PATRICK SHARP
3rd:   MARKUS NASLUND
Winning Goaltender
Roberto Luongo

Losing Goaltender
Nikolai Khabibulin

SCHEDULE
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STANDINGS

WESTERN CONFERENCE
  TEAM GP W L OT GF GA PTS
1 p - CHI 48 36 7 5 155 102 77
2 y - ANA 48 30 12 6 140 118 66
3 y - VAN 48 26 15 7 127 121 59
4 x - STL 48 29 17 2 129 115 60
5 x - LAK 48 27 16 5 133 118 59
6 x - SJS 48 25 16 7 124 116 57
7 x - DET 48 24 16 8 124 115 56
8 x - MIN 48 26 19 3 122 127 55
9 CBJ 48 24 17 7 120 119 55
10 PHX 48 21 18 9 125 131 51
11 DAL 48 22 22 4 130 142 48
12 EDM 48 19 22 7 125 134 45
13 CGY 48 19 25 4 128 160 42
14 NSH 48 16 23 9 111 139 41
15 COL 48 16 25 7 116 152 39