VANCOUVER, B.C. – Daniel Sedin scored Vancouver’s first three goals Thursday as the Canucks ended a two-game losing skid with a 4-2 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers.
Sedin scored twice in the first period when the Canucks were outshot and ran into penalty trouble.
He then touched off a shower of hats and one Santa Claus tuque in the second period when he staked the Canucks to a 3-1 lead.
Mason Raymond also scored for Vancouver in the decisive second period when the Canucks outshot Atlanta 15-6.
Nik Antropov scored to give the Thrashers a 1-1 tie, while Colby Armstrong scored his second goal in as many nights for Atlanta.
The win came in the first of a crucial eight-game homestand and improved Vancouver’s record to 17-14-0 as the Canucks gained two points on their idle Northwest Division rivals.
The Canucks are looking to get on a roll at home because they play eight road games leading into the February Olympic break and six more when the Winter Games end.
The Thrashers, playing their third game in four nights, continued their recent struggles with a fourth loss in their last five games to slip to 15-11-3.
Daniel Sedin gave Vancouver a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes as the Canucks, who held a players-only meeting following the morning skate, scored 3:09 after the opening face-off.
He took Shane O’Brien’s pass behind the net and beat Ondrej Pavelec on a wrap-around when the Thrashers netminder couldn’t get across his crease in time.
The lead lasted only 23 seconds as Antropov, unchecked in front of goalie Roberto Luongo, scored off a rebound after Rich Peverley tipped Ilya Kovalchuk’s power-play point shot.
Vancouver, which took all three penalties and were outshot 11-7 in the period, regained the lead when Daniel Sedin tipped Henrik Sedin’s weak shot through Pavelec at 18:38.
Daniel Sedin, who missed 18 games earlier in the season with a foot fracture, picked up his third career hat trick when Pavelec mishandled his shot from a bad angle, and the puck struck the his stick and went into the net off the inside of his leg.
It was Sedin’s first three-goal effort since Feb. 6, 2007 against Edmonton.
Pavelec, lifted after two periods in a 5-2 loss Monday in Toronto, then had Raymond tip Mikael Samuelsson’s shot behind him for a 4-1 Vancouver advantage.
Raymond hit the post from a sharp angle later in the period after Armstrong drew Atlanta to within two goals when he scored on a rebound after Luongo made a pad save on Zach Bogosian.
Canuck Rick Rypien scored a decision over Boris Valabik in a spirited third-period scrap. Rypien weighs 170 pounds, 75 less than the Slovak.
