VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- The Vancouver Canucks have
figured out their power play. The Chicago Blackhawks can't stay out
of the penalty box.
It wasn't a good combination for Chicago on Tuesday night.
For the second straight game, the Canucks converted three of 10
chances with the man advantage, including two less than two minutes
apart in the second period, en route to a 6-2 rout of the
struggling Blackhawks.
"Unfortunately they had a lot of penalties and you give us that
many opportunities we can put a game away," said Todd Bertuzzi,
who had three assists.
Daniel Sedin, Mattias Ohlund and Sami Salo broke the game open
with goals in a four-minute span early in the second period. Ohlund
added his second goal later in the period, and Brendan Morrison and
Markus Naslund scored in the third as the Canucks won their third
straight game.
In addition to another strong game with the man advantage, the
Canucks also got the best effort of the young season from its top
line of Bertuzzi, Morrison and Naslund. Split up the last two games
because of poor play, the trio was dominant at times, combining for
two goals and five assists.
"We were maybe passing a little too much and not finishing the
plays, but we're starting to move around and get the passes through
and create stuff," said Naslund, who scored his sixth goal of the
season with 30 seconds left.
"When you're labeled as an offensive team and you don't do it,
it's a little frustrating, but you just have to stay with it,"
said Morrison, who scored his first goal of the season and added
two assists -- his first points in six games. "It's one game, but
it's a step in the right direction."
Rookie Pavel Vorobiev netted his fifth goal and added an assist,
and free agent acquisition Martin Lapointe scored his first goal
for the Blackhawks, who have lost four of their last five games.
Chicago also lost top defenseman and captain Adrian Aucoin early
in the third period after he re-aggravated a groin injury that had
forced him to miss the previous four games.
"Hopefully it's not as bad and it's just some scar tissue
breaking up and it will stay loose," said Aucoin, who played 20:45
despite missing most of the third period and will be re-evaluated
Wednesday.
Sedin opened the scoring two minutes into the second period, and
Vancouver's power play took over after that as Chicago continued an
early season trend of taking too many penalties.
Ohlund converted a 5-on-3 power play -- the second two-man
disadvantage against Chicago in the game and 10th in the last three
games -- at 4:23, and Salo made it 3-0 less than two minutes later
after another Chicago penalty.
Morrison, who also had two assists, added another power-play
goal -- his first of the season -- in the third as Vancouver finished
3-for-10 against a Chicago team that came in tied for 22nd in the
league on the penalty kill.
"It's definitely a problem," Aucoin said of the penalties. "I
have a lot of confidence in our penalty kill but the odds are
against us if we re going to take 10. It's known in the locker room
but it's going to be addressed again."
It was the second straight game Vancouver scored three
power-play goals.
"It's tough playing against the forwards we have with our speed
and skill and a lot of times you have no option but to take a
penalty," said Ohlund, who has six points despite missing all of
training camp with a sore back.
Vorobiev, who was rocked by a hit by Ohlund in open ice earlier
in the period, snapped a wrist shot past Dan Cloutier at 9:30 of
the second. Ohlund restored the three-goal lead 3½ minutes later.
Lapointe added a power-play goal early in the third as the
Blackhawks finished 2-for-5 with the man advantage.
Khabibulin finished with 18 saves, while Cloutier stopped 22
shots.
Game notes
Vancouver D Ed Jovanovski left the game after being cut by
Mathew Barnaby's stick late in the second period, but returned to
start the third. ... Chicago F Tuomo Ruutu missed the game with a
sore back. Ruutu's older brother Jarkko played for the Canucks.