VANCOUVER, B.C. – Daniel and Henrik Sedin and Ryan Kesler scored first-period goals Sunday as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Calgary Flames 3-1.
The streaking Canucks, who are 6-1-1 since the Olympic break, maintained their lead atop the Northwest Division while the Flames’ playoff drive hit a speed bump.
Defenceman Robyn Regehr denied goalie Roberto Luongo his fifth shutout of the season with 8:10 remaining when his point shot found the net with Curtis Glencross screening in front.
Luongo finished with 32 saves as the Flames, who pulled their goalie for the last 1:50, failed to score on five power plays.
Vancouver improved to 43-23-3 with its seventh consecutive home-ice win and remained five points clear of second-place Colorado Avalanche, who beat Dallas 5-3 in an earlier game.
The Canucks also ended Calgary’s season-high four-game win streak and left the Flames a point out of a playoff spot with a 34-25-9 record.
It was the second home-ice win in two nights for the Canucks. They have five consecutive home dates after the 2010 Winter Olympics cast them out of GM Place for 14 straight road games.
The Sedin twins and Kesler continued point streaks as the Canucks forged their 3-0 first-period lead while the Flames ran into penalty trouble.
Daniel Sedin scored at 1:13 after forcing Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff to make a sprawling save. Henrik Sedin recovered the puck behind the net and his brother beat the scrambling netminder.
The assist was the 416th of Henrik’s nine-year career and he passed Trevor Linden as the franchise leader in that category.
The goal stretched Daniel’s points streak to 10 games while Henrik’s reached five.
Kesler doubled the lead in a period where the Canucks outshot the Flames 20-6 and saw Kiprusoff replaced by Vesa Toskala to start the middle period.
Alex Burrows was left alone to make a backhand pass to Kesler in the slot, and he rifled a wrist shot for his 20th goal and fourth in seven games.
Kesler’s points streak reached 13 games, the longest by a Canuck since Todd Bertuzzi’s 12 in January 2003.
The Canucks quickly cashed in on a 1:43 two-man advantage as Henrik Sedin backhanded his brother’s rebound through a beleaguered Kiprusoff.
The Flames created more chances in the second period and Luongo had to be sharp on some of the 16 shots he faced.
He got a piece of a Daymond Langkow shot with his glove and denied Jamal Mayers with his blocker as the Canucks kept most of the Calgary attempts to the outside.
Toskala kept the period scoreless by foiling Mason Raymond on a break-in attempt.
Luongo was busy in the third period. He swiped a rebound away from Rene Borque, and Niklas Hagman missed an open net before Regehr scored.
NOTES: Borque played his 300th game … the last time Calgary and Vancouver battled here was a 3-2 Flames shootout win on Jan. 9 when the Northwest Division lead was at stake … the two clubs conclude their six-game season series here on April 10 … Calgary continues its fight for a playoff berth Monday night when they play host to Detroit.
