Naslund, Canucks join century club
Canadian Press
3/28/2003
VANCOUVER (CP) - Markus Naslund became the sixth Swede to reach the 100-point plateau in an NHL season, but he was more comfortable talking about the Vancouver Canucks' role players.
"I thought a lot of guys played a strong game," Naslund said after drawing an assist on Ed Jovanovski's power-play goal in the third period that capped a 5-1 victory Thursday night over the Phoenix Coyotes.
"Our line didn't play extremely well like the rest of them, but that's fine."
In addition to the return of goalie Dan Cloutier, who made 24 saves, the Canucks were led by secondary scorers Jarkko Ruutu, Trent Klatt, Daniel Sedin and Matt Cooke.
"If we can get that throughout the playoffs, we're going to be an extremely tough team to beat," said Naslund. "We have enough talent that if everyone is going at the same time, we'll be real tough to defend against."
Kent Nilsson is the only Swede to top 100 points twice, including 131 when he played for Calgary in 1980-81. The other four are Peter Forsberg, Mats Sundin, Mats Naslund and Hakan Loob.
Forsberg has 97 points this season for Colorado.
Naslund's assist prevented the Canucks' top trio, Todd Bertuzzi and Brendan Morrison, from being blanked for the first time in seven games.
"The big line's been there every night and they're going to get their points but in these tougher games (leading to the playoffs) it's not going to be easy for them," said Cooke, who tied a career high 14th goal.
"If teams play their top guys against them for that many minutes, all the other guys have to make sure that we take advantage of the other teams' third and fourth lines."
That's what Cooke and Daniel Sedin did when Sedin slipped a no-look back pass to Cooke, who beat goalie Brian Boucher with a low backhander.
"It's important if you can help out a little bit," said Sedin. "It's huge in the playoffs, too."
Perhaps the biggest goal came from Ruutu, who beat defender Brad Ference to a clearing attempt and scored on a breakaway. It was his first goal in 22 games, second of the season.
"It feels good to score and if everybody keeps scoring, that's a good thing," said the fiesty Finn, who was sporting a bruised right eye. "But the most important thing is that we play within the system and do the things we're supposed to do and not force the scoring."
Cloutier, who missed 12 of the Canucks' previous 14 games with a strained right knee, said his confidence grew even after Mike Johnson tied the game by banking the puck in off his skate during a power play.
"It did. Obviously when you miss a few starts ... you can practise all you want but it's not the same," Cloutier said. "I just felt more confident as the game went on.
"Not once did I think about it or tweaked it or anything like that. The last two days were huge for me, especially down the stretch. So far, so good, so hopefully it keeps building."
Cloutier made a big save early off Chris Gratton then robbed Todd Simpson in the third period with a glove save.
Phoenix coach Bob Francis said his club was deflated after a video replay showed Branko Radivojevic's skate deflected a puck past Cloutier with a kicking motion 2:55 into the game.
It also wasn't enough just to shut down the Canucks' big line.
"(Vancouver has) the ability to roll four lines," said Francis. "They have speed and size and skill up front. They're deep and they're a difficult team to match up against."
Playing the night after being eliminated from playoff contention wasn't easy, either.
"It's a matter of competing and showing why you're a professional," said Francis. "It's going to be a test of character."
Notes: The U.S. anthem was cheered for the third consecutive game since the Iraqi conflict began ... A large U.S. flag was displayed from a corporate box ... Nolan Baumgartner joined the Canuck defence while Bryan Allen sat out ... The Canucks shipped goalie Alex Auld back to the AHL Manitoba Moose ... Shane Doan, Daymond Langkow and Johnson are the only Coyotes to have played in every Phoenix game this season.
Cheers,
Aquaman