Kings win pits Canucks against Blues
Canadian Press
4/6/2003
VANCOUVER (CP) - Mikko Eloranta scored on a backhand off a scramble in the third before Eric Belanger added an empty-net goal to give the Los Angeles Kings a 2-0 victory Sunday and erase the Vancouver Canucks' chances of clinching their first NHL division title in a decade.
The loss, combined with the Colorado Avalanche's 5-2 win over the St. Louis Blues, gives the Avs the Northwest Division crown. The Canucks slip into fourth place and face the Blues in the first round of the playoffs.
Canucks captain Markus Naslund went into the game as the NHL points leader but saw the crown fall into the hands of Colorado's Peter Forsberg, who had a goal and two assists in the Avs' win to give him 106 points on the season, two more than Naslund.
Milan Hejduk also picked up his 50th goal of the season, giving him two more than Naslund.
The Canucks went into the third period in control of their own destiny. They needed just a single point to clinch the division title and play Minnesota in the first round of the playoffs.
Had Vancouver and Colorado tied in points, the Canucks still would have won the division because of their 45 wins compared to Colorado's 42.
The Canucks last won a division title in 1992-93 when they led the Smythe Division with 46 wins and 101 points.
Vancouver finishes the year with a 45-23-13-1 record. It was a moral victory for the Kings who are out of the playoffs with a 33-37-6-6.
Kings goaltender Jamie Storr made 27 saves for his third shutout of the season.
The Canucks played like a team with too much starch in their jerseys. They went 0-6 on the power play and looked afraid to make a mistake against the Kings.
By the third period some in the sellout crowd of 18,514 began voicing their displeasure.
In the first period Todd Bertuzzi looked to have a good scoring chance but chose instead to attempt a pass to Naslund. The puck was intercepted.
Naslund's best scoring chance came in the second period when he rang a shot off the post.
The Canucks most effective line was the crash-and-bash unit of Trevor Letowski, Matt Cooke and Artem Chubarov. Chubarov had a great scoring chance in the first period, firing a shot over the open corner.
Canucks goaltender Dan Cloutier was forced to make a couple big saves, including dragging a leg in front of a shot from Belanger who was left alone in the slot.
Prior to the game the Canucks announced their team awards.
Naslund was named MVP for the third consecutive year, while Bertuzzi was selected most exciting player for the third time. Ed Jovanovski was won his third consecutive award as best defenceman while Cooke was selected unsung hero.
Notes: Bertuzzi finished the season with (97) points but would have earned bonuses worth $2 million had he reached 100 . . . It took less than two hours to sell the remaining 500 Canucks tickets per game put on sale Saturday for the first two rounds of the playoffs . . . Centre Mats Lindgren (back) and left-winger Brad May (concussion) returned to the lineup after missing nine games.
Cheers,
Aquaman