LACK LEADS CANUCKS IN RELIEF
Eddie Lack made 15 saves in relief of injured starter Roberto Luongo and Christopher Tanev potted the decisive marker midway through the third period to lead the Canucks to their ninth victory in their past 11 games (9-1-1). Lack, who entered the game with 3:30 remaining in the first period, improved to 6-2-0 with a 1.93 goals-against average, .928 save percentage and one shutout in 11 games this season. He has allowed two or fewer goals in each of his past 10 appearances since making his NHL debut Oct. 6.
* Tanev recorded his second game-winning goal in his past seven outings; he had one total game-winning goal in the first 124 games of his NHL career. The 24-year-old Toronto native has already established career highs with 4-8—12 in 39 games this season.
* Brad Richardson scored the game’s opening goal, raising his season totals to 7-8—15 in 39 games, his highest production since 2010-11 (7-12—19 in 68 GP).
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NHL Short Notes
TALBOT BACKSTOPS RANGERS OVER WILD
Cam Talbot made 24 saves in his first start since Dec. 2 and the Rangers scored four unanswered goals to pick up their second victory on their franchise-record, nine-game homestand (2-4-2). Talbot improved to 7-2-0 with a 1.67 goals-against average and .936 save percentage, both of which rank third in the NHL this season. He has allowed two or fewer goals in 10 of his 11 appearances.
* Mats Zuccarello scored his eighth goal of the season. He has 6-9—15, including five multi-point performances, over his past 15 games; Zuccarello totaled 2-8—10 in his first 21 games of the season.
* Chris Kreider recorded his team-leading ninth goal of the season (tied with Brad Richards). Kreider has 9-11—20 in 30 games, tied for second in rookie scoring with Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon (7-13—20 in 35 GP).
LOOSE PUCKS
The Wild scored the opening goal for the first time in their last 11 road games. They fell to 14-2-2 this season when scoring first . . . Jets forward Mark Scheifele collected an assist to stretch his point streak to six games (3-5—8) . . . Wild defenseman Ryan Suter recorded a helper to extend his assist/point streak to six games (0-6—6), tied for the longest assist streak of his career (Dec. 11-22, 2010: 1-7—8) . . . Canucks forward David Booth posted his 100th career assist . . . Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieksa played in his 500th NHL game . . . Wild defensemen Jared Spurgeon and Clayton Stoner each skated in their 200th career game.
About Kukla's Korner Hockey
Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.
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