NHL
Canucks stay perfect on home ice

By The Associated Press and Knight Ridder Newspapers

	RICHARD LAM / AP Vancouver's Trevor Linden, center, crashes into Buffalo goalie Mika Noronen, right, and Rory Fitzpatrick after scoring.
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VANCOUVER, B.C. — Rookie Jason King collected a goal and two assists, and Dan Cloutier made 18 saves to lead the Vancouver Canucks to a 6-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres last night.

Daniel Sedin added a goal and an assist for the Canucks, who snapped a three-game winless skid and remained perfect in three games at home. They have outscored the opposition 13-2 in those games.

"Our main goal tonight was to produce offensively," King said. "On the road trip, we didn't put up the numbers we wanted to. Coming here, we had to jump out quick offensively."

Trevor Linden, Ed Jovanovski, Sami Salo and Brendan Morrison also scored as Vancouver dominated from the opening faceoff at GM Place.

"It's tough to stop when you get four lines involved in scoring," said Canucks captain Markus Naslund, who had an assist.

Miroslav Satan spoiled Cloutier's shutout bid with a power-play goal 6:25 into the final period to make the score 6-1.

Vancouver scored on its first two power plays of the game, after converting once in its previous 26 opportunities with the man advantage.

Sedin opened the scoring five minutes in with a low wrist shot from the top of the circle after a long outlet pass from Marek Malik to King started a three-on-two rush.

"We came off a tough road trip where things didn't go the way we wanted to so we had to come hard right off the start and get the fans into it," King said.

Linden made it 2-0 about seven minutes later, blowing past Brian Campbell down the right wing and slipping the puck between Mika Noronen's legs before knocking over the Buffalo goaltender.

Jovanovski scored from the slot late in the first period.

Noronen, who posted a shutout in his first start of the year Saturday, was lifted in favor of Martin Biron to start the second period.

Salo and King both had tap-in goals on the power play in the second, and Morrison was left alone in the slot for a one-timer that made it 6-0 heading into the final period.

"They did everything they wanted to do out there," Buffalo defenseman Jay McKee said. "They skated, they passed, they shot, they played good defensively. We didn't control them anywhere. They battled harder than us and they definitely deserved the game more than us."

Canucks forward Brad May received a five-minute match penalty for intent to injure with 1:11 left.

Other games

At Rangers 3, Panthers 1 — Eric Lindros and Tom Poti scored soft goals against Roberto Luongo to lead New York over Florida.

Lindros scored 1:41 in and Poti made it 2-0 with seven seconds left in the second period as the Rangers improved to 1-0-2 on their six-game homestand — the longest of the season.

Lindros left the game with an injured left shoulder and was sent for X-rays before the third period.

The results were not immediately announced, and a further evaluation was expected to be made today.

Mike Dunham made 34 saves for New York, beaten only by Niklas Hagman 51 seconds into the third period.

At Islanders 5, Maple Leafs 2 — Mariusz Czerkawski scored twice to help New York beat Toronto.

Jason Blake, Michael Peca and Oleg Kvasha also scored for the Islanders, who have a four-game unbeaten streak (3-0-1-0).

Garth Snow was in net for the Islanders for the first time since allowing six goals in less than two periods on Opening Night, and stopped 24 shots for his first win.

Gary Roberts and Matt Stajan scored for Toronto, which lost its first road game.

The Maple Leafs have scored seven goals in their first five games.

Center Dave Scatchard of the Islanders will miss four to six weeks after dislocating his right shoulder in Saturday's 2-1 win over Florida.

At Canadiens 2, Red Wings 1 — Steve Begin and Richard Zednik each scored a goal off nifty passing plays and backup goalie Mathieu Garon made 18 saves to lead Montreal over Detroit.

Begin scored his first Montreal goal on a two-man break 1:45 into the second period, and Zednik got his second of the season 6:02 into the period.

Mathieu Dandenault scored a short-handed goal for the Red Wings, who have lost two in a row after winning their first three.

Note

• Before he knew he was going to the minors, Curtis Joseph showed he was willing to do it if it meant he could finally play.

Joseph, a longtime league standout who has been on the trading block since the Detroit Red Wings reacquired Dominik Hasek, was assigned to the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League.

Red Wings spokesman John Hahn said Joseph needs conditioning as he recovers from an operation in August to remove bone chips from his right ankle. Joseph was Detroit's starting goalie last season with a 34-19 record. He had a 2.76 goals-against average in the regular season.

Copyright © 2003 The Seattle Times Company