Canucks end road trip on winning note
Posted December 20, 2013 8:20 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CHICAGO, IL (NEWS1130) – Ryan Kesler scored in the eighth round of the shootout to lift the Vancouver Canucks to a 3-2 victory over the league-leading Chicago Blackhawks. The Canucks went 1-1-1 on their road trip.
Vancouver snapped a two-game losing skid with the decision. The Canucks lost 3-2 in a shootout to the Minnesota Wild in the opener of their three-game trip, and then dropped a 4-1 decision to the Dallas Stars last night.
Eddie Lack was very impressive in recording his fifth victory of the season. The Swedish goalie stopped 24 shots through regulation and overtime, and then had to turn aside seven Blackhawks shooters in the shootout to provide Kesler with the chance to win it.
The Blackhawks opened the scoring 7:49 into the first period. Kris Versteeg beat Lack with a goal set-up by Patrick Kane. The assist extended Kane’s point streak to 11 games.
Kane wasn’t done yet, as the Chicago sniper scored against the momentum to make it 2-0 just shy of the five-minute mark in the second period. Vancouver was outshooting Chicago 7-0 in the period before the goal.
The Canucks got one back before the period ended, as Zack Kassian beat Antti Raanta with a quick wrister up high to cut the deficit in half.
Just before the second period came to a close, Lack made his best stop of the night to keep his team within a goal. Ben Smith was in alone on the Canucks’ tender, but couldn’t beat his outstretched pad.
Midway through the third period, a lucky bounce put the puck on Daniel Sedin’s skate at the side of the net, and he kicked it up to his stick and fired it in while falling to tie the game 2-2. The goal was just the second for Daniel in the past 10 games.
In the shootout, Mike Santorelli put the Canucks on the board in the first round, but Patrick Sharp got Chicago back on even terms, scoring in the third round. No one scored after that until Kesler tallied the winner.
The Canucks return home to host the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday in their final game before the Christmas break.
