Reid powers Canucks past Predators
Canadian Press
3/21/2003
VANCOUVER (CP) - Rookie Brandon Reid was almost nonchalant coming back on the ice for a curtain call after being named the first star.
"I wanted to seize the moment and take it in," Reid said Thursday night after his first two NHL goals helped propel the Vancouver Canucks to a 7-3 victory over the Nashville Predators.
"It doesn't happen too often and I just wanted to make it special."
The speedy Reid, a five-foot-nine centre who darts like a waterbug, was called up from the AHL's Manitoba Moose to fill in for injured Artem Chubarov and has made the most of his opportunity.
He also assisted on another goal, giving him four points in the only two NHL games the 22-year-old has played in.
Reid scored on a backhand that sent Nashville's starting netminder Tomas Vokoun to the bench in the first period and roared around the net to beat replacement Wade Flaherty on a wraparound in the second period.
He assisted on Vancouver's goal in a 1-1 tie with the Canadiens on March 1 in Montreal.
And Reid says he's not surprised by his early success.
"You visualize it happening that way," said Reid who was inserted between Trevor Letowski, who also scored, and Matt Cooke.
"I give a lot of credit to my linemates. With the speed that we have, they (Nashville) couldn't handle it. I have my speed and that's the biggest part of my game. They've told me before to use my speed and use my creativity."
His second NHL game was easier to play than the first, said Reid, who only kept one of the two pucks he put behind the Nashville netminders.
"It was a lot less stressful. The first game took me almost two periods to get into it. This time I felt real good right off the bat."
The Canucks chased Vokoun after scoring on three of their first four shots. Flaherty, playing his first NHL minutes this season, saw the Canucks' lead balloon to 5-0 by 1:10 of the second period before Denis Arkhipov scored the first of his two goals to give him four in two games.
Todd Bertuzzi and Markus Naslund continued to share the NHL goal-scoring lead at 43 as both scored in the first period.
Other Canuck snipers were Trent Klatt 30 seconds into the game and Trevor Linden. Karlis Skratins scored the third Predators goal with 30 seconds remaining in the contest.
It was a key victory for the Northwest Division-leading Canucks who kept the surging Colorado Avalanche six points back. The Avs, with two games in hand, had beaten San Jose before Vancouver took the ice.
"It's nice to get that monkey off your back but I think the key is with Colorado winning we're keeping up," Naslund said of only his second goal in 12 games.
Bertuzzi led the race for the Richard Trophy that goes to the league's top goal scorer for nine minutes but Naslund said the two linemates aren't competing against each other.
"I think it's being made too much of a big deal," said Naslund. "If you watch us play, you see us looking for each other.
"Whoever's in the best position is going to get the puck and that's why we've been successful."
Bertuzzi also downplayed any rivalry.
"I knew it wasn't going to last long anyway so it's no big deal to me," he said of taking the lead.
"We're just going about our business. Obviously if we're scoring it betters our chances of winning the game."
Flaherty said it was tough to come in down 3-0 early in a game but the Reid line made it tougher.
"They had a lot of speed and we just couldn't contain them. They took it to us."
NOTES: Vancouver defenceman Mattias Ohlund, out three weeks after arthroscopic knee surgery, could begin skating next week. ... Chubarov (abdominal strain) and Mats Lindgren (back spasms) remain doubtful for Sunday's game against the Washington Capitals. ... Of Vancouver's seven remaining games, six are against clubs below them in the standings and four are against teams currently out of a playoff position. ... Canucks G Dan Cloutier, who missed 10 games with a sprained right knee, expects to experience soreness in the joint for four months. ... Ex-Canuck Todd Warriner returned to GM Place with the Predators, his third team this season.
Cheers,
Aquaman