|
 The big right winger showed his strength when scoring one goal, then
made the prettiest play of the night assisting on another as the
Stars continued their dominance over the Vancouver Canucks with a
4-2 victory.
Nichushkin's highlight reel play came just 33 seconds into the
second period.
Defenseman Alex Goligoski shot the puck into the Canuck zone.
Nichushkin picked it off the boards behind the net, then slipped a
pass between his legs back to center Tyler Seguin.
Seguin jammed a shot past Vancouver goaltender Ryan Miller to give
Dallas a 2-1 lead.
"The coach tells us every game, puck on the net," said Nichushkin.
"Seguin was behind me. I just tried a play like that."
Veteran left winger Patrick Sharp, who scored the game-winning goal
in the third period, said Nichushkin is just beginning to show his
potential.
"He had some jump in his game tonight," said Sharp. "It was a good
play that a young kind like Val can make.
"Hopefully he gets better and better as the season goes on."
The Canucks battled back to tie the game 2-2 in the third period
before Sharp gave Dallas the lead with 5:59 left. It was Dallas's
10th consecutive win over the Canucks and the fifth straight time
they won in Vancouver.
Sharp scored the winner after taking a pass from Goligoski near
center ice. He then used his speed to cut between Vancouver
defensemen Dan Hamhuis and Yannick Weber, before beating Miller with
a low shot.
"We had a controlled breakout and I kind of swung to the wrong
side," said Sharp, who collected his ninth goal of the season. "He
(Goligoski) saw me cut to the middle and put it right on my tape.
"I'm not sure if Vancouver was changing or what they were doing."
The Canucks asked for a video review, arguing Dallas left winger
Antoine Roussel was offside on the play, but the goal stood.
Center Jason Spezza scored into an empty net and Goligoski had two
assists for the Stars, who improved their record to a league-leading
20-5-1.
The Canucks opened the scoring with less than a minute gone in the
first period but Nichushkin tied the game midway through the first.
He fought off a check from Hamhuis and tucked the puck behind
Miller.
Nichushkin was drafted 10th overall in 2013 but missed 59 games last
year due to hip surgery. The 20-year-old looked right at home
playing his first game of the year on a line with Seguin and left
winger Jamie Benn.
"He has been holding on to the puck really well down low and I
thought it would give that line some possession time," said Stars
coach Lindy Ruff, explaining why he promoted Nichushkin from the
third to the first line. "I thought he did a great job.
[to top of second column] |
"There's no secret. You play well, you are going to get to play. I
think it's good he's been able to learn from some adversity and came
back and played well for us."
Defenseman Alex Edler and right winger Jannik Hansen scored for
Vancouver. Center Henrik Sedin had two assists.
It was the fourth consecutive loss for the Canucks (9-10-8), who are
3-8-4 in their last 15 games.
Vancouver was outshot 34-16 during the game and needed some big
saves from Miller to keep the score close.
Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said his team badly outplayed.
"We battled back to get a tie in a game we probably didn't deserved
to be tied in," he said.
"We need better performances on the ice. That's not good enough."
Henrik Sedin said it was another close game the Canucks allowed to
get away.
"Even though we hadn't played our best game we were right there the
whole game," said the Canuck captain. "We told each other we were
one shot away.
"We scored in the third period but it got away from us again. It's
the same old story."
Dallas goalie Kari Lehtonen, making his first start after missing
three games with an upper-body injury suffered Nov. 24, made 14
saves.
NOTES: Canucks C Brandon Sutter, sidelined since Nov. 10, had sports
hernia surgery Tuesday and will be out up to six weeks. ...
Vancouver LW Ronalds Kenins, recalled from Utica of the AHL, started
on the second line with C Bo Horvat and RW Radim Vrbata. ... Canucks
D Luca Sbisa (unknown), LW Jake Virtanen (hip), LW Chris Higgins
(head) and D Ben Hutton (foot) all missed the game. ... Vancouver
continues a four-game homestand Saturday against the Boston Bruins.
... Dallas D Jason Demers (lower body) didn't play. ... Stars LW
Travis Moen and D Jyrki Jokipakka were healthy scratches. ... Dallas
G Jack Campbell was reassigned to Texas of the AHL on Wednesday.
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
