Canucks Keep Maple Leafs Winless With 3-1 Win

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Mason Raymond and Ryan Kesler scored power-play goals 2:42 apart late in the first period, and Roberto Luongo made 35 saves to lead the Vancouver Canucks to a 3-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.

The Maple Leafs controlled the third period, outshooting Vancouver 10-3 and creating several good chances before Raymond scored his second goal into an empty net with 7.9 seconds left. Toronto got a bad break when Canucks defenseman Alex Edler got away with scooping the puck out of the crease with his glove with five minutes left, which should have resulted in a penalty shot.

Niklas Hagman scored late in the second period for the Maple Leafs, who remained the NHL’s last winless team, setting a franchise record for their worst start at 0-7-1.

Defenseman Christian Ehrhoff and rookie winger Michael Grabner each had two assists for the Canucks, who have won five of their last seven games after losing the first three to reach .500 for the first time this season.

Toronto opened a five-game road trip with its first game in a week – its longest non-Olympic or All-Star break since 1956 – and had the better chances early on, outshooting the Canucks 7-1 before taking five-straight penalties.

Even then the Maple Leafs’ penalty kill, ranked last in the NHL, created the better scoring chances. But Ian White was stopped on a short-handed 2-on-1 on the first penalty and Lee Stempniak fanned on his shot after skating in alone while killing off a four-minute penalty that produced just two Vancouver shots.

Raymond, who drew the double-minor against White, used his speed to draw another penalty 20 seconds after the long power play ended, and showed grit by going to the net to help open the scoring with 5:10 left in the first period.

After Joey MacDonald made a good save off Ehrhoff, Grabner knocked the rebound out of air and he and Raymond jammed away at the loose puck before Toronto defenseman Mike Komisarek finally tipped it in.

Kesler doubled the lead 2:42 later with Rickard Wallin in the penalty box for delay of game, snapping a shot from the top of the faceoff circle past the glove of MacDonald, who was being partially screened by Raymond and Grabner.

Luongo had to be sharp early. In addition to the short-handed 2-on-1 breaks, he got a blocker on Alexei Ponikarovsky‘s backhand after breaking in alone off a 2-on-1 rush 2:30 in, and got across quickly to his left and threw the left pad out to take an empty net away from Viktor Stalberg on a rebound two minutes later.

Hagman finally beat him on a power play with 3:14 left in the second period, snapping a long shot past Luongo on the glove side after catching the goalie looking the wrong way around a screen at the top of the crease.

MacDonald, making his third-straight start while Vesa Toskala (knee) and Jonas Gustavsson (groin) are injured, finished with 21 saves, including a couple of great stops late in the second period to keep Toronto in the game.

Notes
Canucks C Pavol Demitra is out indefinitely after requiring arthroscopic surgery on his shoulder this week because the range of motion didn’t fully return from rotator cuff surgery during the summer. D Mathieu Schneider, who had similar shoulder surgery in the summer, is expected to play against the Oilers on Sunday, the soonest he is eligible to play after starting the season on the long-term injury list. … Gustavsson and Toskala are both on the five-game road trip, and Gustavsson may return against Anaheim Monday.