Canucks shrug off injuries in Dallas
Last Updated: Friday, November 6, 2009 | 1:04 PM ET
By Justin Piercy, CBC Sports
Even without their top stars, the Vancouver Canucks have played as a team and found a way to win three games in a row heading into Friday's tilt with Dallas. (Jeff Gross/Getty Images) The warning bells were going off in Vancouver when the Canucks' franchise goalie and last year's team scoring leader joined a growing list of players lost to injury.
But it appears that the all-clear has been sounded — the team is riding a three-game winning streak and look to stretch that number to four when they visit the Dallas Stars on Friday.
The Canucks (10-7-0) are winning — and they're doing it without glitz, without glamour, and most importantly without some of their top stars.
Goaltender Roberto Luongo has been sidelined by a hairline fracture to one of his ribs and is expected to return during the Vancouver five-game road trip, but backup Andrew Raycroft has been steady, posting three wins and a 1.52 GAA.
The Canucks recently welcomed back defenders Sami Salo (knee) and Mathieu Schneider (shoulder) but are still awaiting the return of Daniel Sedin (broken foot), Pavol Demitra (shoulder), Michael Grabner (ankle), Alex Bolduc (shoulder) and Steve Bernier (flu).
Coach Alain Vigneault won't feel the pressure to rush those players back on the ice because the Canucks are becoming accustomed to playing "old-time hockey" — a crash-and-grind style that may not be pretty, but is delivering results.
In their last game, a 5-2 win over division rivals Minnesota, the Canucks found scoring from anyone but the usual suspects — tough-guy Darcy Hordichuk and recent signing Matt Pettinger both lit the lamp against the Wild.
"You're not going to win with one line and you're not going to win with two lines," right wing Mikael Samuelsson said. "You're going to win with your whole team and that's what we did tonight. It's huge."
Dallas looking for complete game effort
The Stars (6-3-6) are looking to play a full 60 minutes of hockey after getting burned by Calgary on Wednesday.
Leading 2-1 with 49 seconds left to go, Dallas surrendered a goal to Daymond Langkow before Jarome Iginla scored on an overtime power play to leave the Stars winless in their last three games (0-1-2).
"We're disappointed with the loss, but there are a lot of things to be positive about," coach Marc Crawford said. "I thought this was one of our best home outings for sure. We did what we wanted to against Calgary. We really exposed their defence. I thought they were on their heels the better part of the night. I thought we were the better club in terms of chances generated, by a long shot."
The Stars are definitely a better club with James Neal. The Dallas left wing has six goals and four assists during a seven-game points streak, but is questionable for the game against Vancouver with a sore groin.
The Canucks and Stars met once already this season, a 4-3 Canucks win at GM Place on Oct. 11.
with files from The Associated Press
