Uninspired effort catching up with the Canucks By Iain MacIntyre, The Vancouver Sun

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1 Uninspired effort catching up with the Canucks By Iain MacIntyre, The Vancouver Sun VANCOUVER - On a night when the most energetic person in a Canuck sweater was a toddler shaking his booties to music during timeouts, the debate about where in the Vancouver lineup Chris Higgins belonged seemed pretty silly. Third line or second line? It's ridiculous. Clearly, Higgins should have been on the first line because he played with passion and had two points against the Dallas Stars and that, amid Tuesday's tedium, was equivalent to Darryl Sittler's 10-point night. The Stars beat the Canucks 5-2 because Dallas backup goalie Richard Bachman whiffed on two shots and Dallas shooters managed to miss the net or the puck on three or four open-net chances. The Canucks have lost four of five games, are riding consecutive regulation losses for the first time since Nov. 4 and playing their worst hockey since dead October. Vancouver is playing like a team drowsily awaiting the playoffs. Dallas played like a team desperate to make them. Just like how the Buffalo Sabres played Saturday when they hung on to beat the Canucks 5-3. The Canucks are on the wrong side of that thin margin of error that determines wins and losses in the National Hockey League. If you're 10 per cent off, chances are you don't win. And 10 per cent off would have been a huge improvement Tuesday for the Canucks. Most of Vancouver's travel is done and the team suddenly looks like it has been to the moon and back. The Canucks are trying to retain the Presidents' Trophy, want to finish first in the Western Conference so that all the Game 1s and Game 7s on this side of the league are in their building. But the reality is they can't finish any lower than the second seed. They have the benefit of playing in the NHL's weakest division, which the Canucks lead by 16 points. They might win the Northwest even if they lose their remaining 15 games. And the 2012 outbreak of mediocrity in the Pacific Division makes it unlikely the Canucks could fall to the third seed and face a potential second-round-playoff opener on the road. They are where they are, with little to play for. At least that's how they look. If we're thinking that, then our minds are in the wrong spot, defenceman Aaron Rome said. [Motivation] shouldn't be the problem. We don't look at the standings that way. We want to clinch first and have home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs. You've got to give Dallas credit; they're fighting for their playoff lives, fighting to win their division. Our point exactly. And the Canucks aren't. But they should be fighting for roles, playing with urgency if only to keep their own places in the lineup. It is both ironic and coincidental that this late-winter lull has occurred as management has given the team more depth and diversity than ever. Coach Alain Vigneault, who preaches a game-by-game mentality and rarely looks behind or beyond the next game, admitted Monday that the Canucks' position in the standings and the new tools in his toolbox

2 allow him to tinker a little with his lineup in the final month of the regular season. That way, he'll know what he has for playoffs and be able to configure his strongest lineup. So, newcomer Zack Kassian played on the second line Tuesday while Mason Raymond was banished to the fourth. And Marc-Andre Gragnani, who couldn't make Buffalo's weaker lineup, played his third straight game for the Canucks and again had a privileged spot on the power play. And Higgins, who has been effective on the second line this season when not battling staph infections, is in a checking role on a third line. We're not blaming Vigneault for experimenting. He has a lot more lineup options than he did a year ago and it would be foolish for him not to explore them. But given the Canucks' dreadful start Saturday and carelessness Tuesday, here are some more wrinkles he should try: get Cory Schneider back in goal, Chris Tanev and Andrew Alberts back on defence, Dale Weise back on the fourth line and Byron Bitz back from the minors. The Canucks are still one of the best teams in hockey. They're very good at winning. Very good, period, so there's no need to panic. But a little shakeup more lineup competition and less lineup security wouldn't be a bad thing right now. It would certainly get everyone's attention. It usually does in a long season, Canuck captain Henrik Sedin said after going pointless a sixth straight game. Sometimes you need to get people moved around. Maybe even the Sedins to different lines or Hawaii for a few days. Vigneault has options to make his lineup tougher or more skilled. It doesn't seem like much of an advantage these days, but these options represent an upgrade from last season when the Canucks failed to cope with injuries or adapt to the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup final. Clearly, we felt we needed to bolster the depth, Canuck assistant general manager Laurence Gilman said before the game. In the Stanley Cup final, we more or less played with three lines. And when we lost Dan Hamhuis and Aaron Rome, it really hurt the effectiveness of our defence. We can definitely integrate bigger, more physical players. What it really provides is more weapons in the arsenal of our coach. We can play a number of different styles and integrate a lot of diverse components to suit Alain's game plan, and he has the flexibility to change that game plan depending on the opponent. But the players must still execute it. Canucks gave Stars too many 2-on1s By Gordon McIntyre, The Province Joseph Heller followed up his masterpiece Catch-22 with a novel called Something Happened, in which nothing happened. That s what Tuesday night s Canucks game was like, from the moment Zack Kassian lost the handle while trying to deke to his backhand on a penalty shot 26 seconds into the game, until the game mercifully wound down, the inaction and inability interrupted only by goals from Alex Edler and Chris Higgins. Nothing else happened. Not unless you count what the Canucks did for Dallas.

3 They gave up four 2-on-1s, the backbreaker allowing a goal with just 23 seconds to play in the second period that made it 2-1 for Dallas, their second goal in 2:53. Samuel Pahlsson did a poor job of checking Loui Eriksson along the boards at the Stars blueline and Alex Edler disappeared from sight, leaving Mike Ribeiro free to skate down the ice with Michael Ryder. Since Ryder is the sniper and Ribeiro the set-up man Ryder had 28 goals coming into the game, twice as many as his centre Roberto Luongo cheated toward Ryder. And Ribeiro ripped the puck over Luongo s shoulder to the top corner short-side at 19:37. That goal had followed Jamie Benn and Adam Burish each whiffing at open nets on previous 2-on-1s. There were misreads where we wanted our D to come down [pinch], said Henrik Sedin, whose line combined to be minus-7. We need our forwards to back them up and we didn t have that. That rarely happens for us. But like you said, three times in a row, they re going to score one of those sooner or later. And you can add to the sloppiness Alex Burrows brutal give-away up the middle that led to Benn s goal that made it 3-1. We made mistakes in their end that led to those odd-man rushes, whether it was the third man and our forwards not reloading quick enough to get back or in combination of turning the puck over, Alain Vigneault said. That led to a lot of quality chances we gave them. Edler made things interesting at 7:55 of the third, taking a pass from Kevin Bieksa inside his own end, dipsy-doodling through Ribeiro, Eriksson and Radek Dvorak, and having backed up the defence pair of Mark Fistric and Trevor Daley far enough to give him time and space wristing a shot over Richard Bachman s shoulder. That made it 3-2, but Ryder treated Daniel Sedin s attempted hip check like a turnstile, Bieksa couldn t contain Ribeiro in front and Dallas had restored its two-goal lead at 11:11 of the third. Obviously you don t want to be giving up odd-man rushes, especially when there s less than two minutes left in a period, Luongo said. I don t know. We have to look at the film and see what happened. Ryan Kesler s double minor for high-sticking Steve Ott 12 seconds after Dallas went up 4-2 was the Canucks final act of charity, unless you also count the empty-netter with four seconds to play that earned the rookie Bachman, making his 14th NHL start, an assist, his first NHL point. Gallagher: No-show Sedins symbolic of Canucks' slowdown By Tony Gallagher, The Province NHL general managers are fond of saying you can make up for an injury to a star player for a short time, but over a longer period it generally shows in your results. That s what Detroit GM Ken Holland said when Pavel Datsyuk had his knee scoped last month and, sure enough, the Wings have slowed. So have the Vancouver Canucks, only their top players aren t hurt. They re simply getting nothing done, and haven t been now for about 13 games, many of those still having been won. But now it s beginning to show. The central difference between Vancouver and Dallas last night at Rogers sleep factory was the fact the Stars best players showed up and produced, and the Vancouver stars showed up and showed how frustrated they re becoming.

4 Another bagel for the Sedins, which has to be finding its way into the minds of both management and the coaching staff of this team as they wonder how long this can possibly go on, and how they can change things. The twins are working hard enough, you can see that. But the magic has taken its leave and has been replaced by crippling frustration. They seem far apart from each other on the ice. There s not the same sense of positioning with respect to the other guy. And the question has to be when, or more troubling if, that magic is coming back. Throw in the hilarious performance from Alex Edler in this one most of the humour coming on his fluke goal and you have to say Samuel Pahlsson was the best Swede on the ice for Vancouver, and when that s the case, they re toast. The Sedins non-performance is crippling for so many reasons. For starters, they take all the first powerplay unit minutes, although there aren t many power plays these days even though a couple of times last night the Stars had six skaters on the ice right in front of the officials. They take the lion s share of the offensive-zone starts, they don t kill penalties and they don t hit anyone. They have to score or this team is hooped. They know it and they re working like hell to change things. It s driving them nuts but the harder they work, the more pathetic it seems to become. Yeah, there s a chance that might be happening but something [former Canucks coach] Marc Crawford taught us was that when you re going through something like this, hard work kind of gives you confidence, said Daniel Sedin. We don t care so much when we win. But it s tough when you lose and you re not contributing. That s the sad part. They re working hard and getting scoring chances it s just not going in for them, said Sami Salo when asked to comment on the Sedins. When asked what scoring chances those were, the veteran Finn kind of smiled and said: Well, I don t have a photographic memory. It was another bagel for the second line, which seems to change every game regardless of performance, the coach evidently unwilling to put Chris Higgins back with Ryan Kesler and David Booth even after the outstanding run they fashioned earlier in the season. So, nothing from your top two lines against a team that got three points from Mike Ribeiro and two each from Loui Eriksson, Stephane Robidas and Michael Ryder, and that s going to be the outcome most nights. At the moment, this crew has gone from a team with three scoring lines to one with four checking lines, and the big losers are the fans who paid for tickets to the former and are now watching the latter. And last night those checking lines didn t even bother checking anyone. I don t think that s the case at all, said Cory Schneider when asked if he thought the trade had stunned the team a little bit. We went through one with Michael [Samuelsson] earlier in the year and he was really well liked and that didn t bother us. We got really good guys who fit in back. You look around and you see a few of the top teams struggling right now, like Detroit and Boston. I guess you could say we know we re going to finish top two, and while I don t think that s affecting us... The Van Provies: Stars 5 Canucks 2 By Gordon McIntyre, The Province

5 BEST STAT Zack Kassian's penalty shot 26 seconds into the game was the second-fastest in NHL history. The fastest penalty shot awarded after the opening faceoff was called when Rocket Richard was tripped on a breakaway 12 seconds into a New Year's Day game at Chicago in He gave goalie Harry Lumley a head fake and scored, according to Harvey Wittenberg in Tales From The Blackhawks. BEST NIGHT, NOT Mark Fistric has played better games in Vancouver. The former Giants captain gave the hook that awarded Kassian his penalty shot, tried to pick a fight with Daniel Sedin of all people, then backed in too far on Alex Edler's third-period goal, allowing Edler the time and space to get off a high wrist shot that beat Richard Bachman and pulled the Canucks back to 3-2. BEST SKID Remember how Henrik Sedin lit up the Leafs and Oilers last month, going in those two games? And how two games later, he added a couple more helpers in a win at Detroit? Since then he hasn't registered a point, his six-game pointless streak his longest since a seven-game skid in BEST ANALYSIS "I thought for the first 30 minutes both teams were feeling each other out, I'm not quite sure why. And I thought for the final 30 minutes, [Dallas] was by far the better team." - Alain Vigneault BEST TEAMS The Canucks having been playing only first-place teams from the Western Conference lately, it only seems like that. In facts, four of the Canucks' past five Western opponents have either been in first place when they played the Canucks or were tied in points with the first-place team in their division. Ordinary Canucks slump to 5-2 defeat against Stars By Ben Kuzma, The Province Kevin Bieksa angry-face impersonator Vernon Fiddler served up a juicy pre-game quote Tuesday in referring to the Vancouver Canucks blueliner as a caveman. Backup goaltender Richard Bachman was served up by the Dallas Stars because Kari Lethtonen needed to be rested for vital home dates against San Jose and Anaheim in the pursuit of a playoff position. The Stars even served up a penalty shot to Zack Kassian just 24 seconds into the clash at Rogers Arena. If that wasn't enough, other Presidents' Trophy contenders had already lost ground, with the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers losing their games. With all kinds of incentive and an early opportunity to force the Stars to abandon their defensive posture, the Canucks looked a lot like Kassian's penalty shot attempt in falling 5-2 to the surprise Pacific Division leaders, who are on a run past respectability. The Canucks looked confused. They looked out of sync. Henrik and Daniel Sedin looked ordinary. "The last 30 minutes they were by far the better team," said Canucks coach Alain Vigneault. "We need a lot more of a lot of things." Even though a lazy wrist shot from just inside the blueline by Alex Edler drifted over the shoulder of Bachman to narrow the count to 3-2 in the third period, the Canucks didn't come any closer to at least getting a point. Mike Ribeiro's second goal on a cross-ice feed from Michael Ryder sealed the deal before Stephane Robidas added an empty-net goal.

6 "We've got to find that hunger to win the conference," said winger Chris Higgins, who opened scoring early in the second period. "They came as advertised. They played well in the neutral zone and created turnovers and put their chances away. We were a little too fancy, especially in the first period. We had pucks in the slot and were looking for that extra pass. We need to play a little more direct." The start had something to do with that. Kassian lost the handle on a tentative backhand attempt after being dragged down by Mark Fistric. It was symbolic, because the Canucks had the same appearance when promoting Kassian to the second line and dropping the struggling Mason Raymond to the fourth line was supposed to provide some sort of spark. "I did that move all the time," Kassian said of the penalty shot. "Just a little nervous and the puck slid off my stick. They slowed it down and we played into their style and we can't be doing that." You just knew the 1-0 lead wouldn't stand up. Not after the Stars rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the third period on Feb. 26 in Dallas en route to a 3-2 overtime victory. That effort erased a mark when the Canucks led after two periods, so there was no panic in the visitors' game Tuesday. When Loui Eriksson worked his way between Bieksa, Dan Hamhuis and Sammi Pahlsson to easily redirect a Trevor Daley power-play feed over Roberto Luongo's right pad in the second period, what momentum there was in the game of chess changed. Less than three minutes later, with Edler caught up ice, Ribeiro easily converted a 2-on-1 break with Ryder by finding the short side. The dagger came early in the third period when the Canucks staged a fire drill in their own zone and couldn't clear the puck. Steve Ott found Jamie Benn and he found the short side to put the the Stars even further into full retreat and the Canucks into shock. "We had a tough first shift," said Henrik Sedin, who has gone pointless in six games. "They score on a breakdown and then get their fourth. We couldn't get anything going. We're not playing our best right now and we're not happy." With 15 games remaining in the regular season, Vigneault is searching for chemistry. What was painfully obvious once again is that the Canucks aren't mustering consistent pressure and their slumping power play is now 1-for-21 in the last eight outings. When Kesler took a double-minor in the third period for a high stick on Ott it spoke of the collective frustration. "I like our offence but we've got to take care of the defence," said Daniel Sedin. "We'll work through this. We take losing harder than not scoring. Our goal is to be on top of our game when the playoffs start and it has to start now." Right now, the Canucks look like a team with three checking lines and you have to wonder by playoff time whether Higgins will be back on the second line and Kassian will join Maxim Lapierre and Jannik Hansen on what could be a good third line. On Tuesday, nobody looked good. "It was a weird game," summed up Luongo. "A lot of their goals came right in the goalmouth and I don't know what to make of it. That's not the type of hockey we want to be playing." Willes: Canucks, Stars and a huge reverse in NHL fortunes By Ed Willes, The Province To understand the massive change the NHL has undergone in the last decade a change that, among other things, dramatically altered the fortunes of the Dallas Stars and the Vancouver Canucks let s hop into the way-back machine and set it for the spring of 2000.

7 That season the Stars finished in the top-three in the NHL in both revenues and payroll. A year after winning the Stanley Cup they lost to New Jersey in the Cup final but, given their personnel and the resources at their disposal, they appeared to be positioned for a long stay atop the league s food chain. And then there were the Canucks. That season, they missed the playoffs for the fourth year in a row while drawing an average of wait for it 14,649 fans per game. Then-owner John McCaw was trying to sell the franchise but couldn t find any takers. Ron Toigo, who would bring the WHL Giants to the city a year later, looked long and hard at the Canucks operation but his board of directors deemed the investment too risky. Remember all that? Good, because looking at the two teams now, it s difficult to wrap your mind around everything that s happened since. The Canucks and Stars meet Tuesday night at Rogers Arena and, as long as the two teams are owned by the Aquilini family and Tom Gaglardi, respectively, their games will carry an extra dash of Tabasco. Five years ago, the Aquilinis and Gaglardi were embroiled in a vicious lawsuit over control of the Canucks. The courts would rule in the Aquilinis favour. Gaglardi, meanwhile, bought the Stars out of bankruptcy earlier this season. And if that s all you knew about the shared history of the two franchises, it would be reason to tune in to their meetings. But, once you get past the ownership intrigue, the stories of the Canucks and Stars are meaningful for other reasons. Mirroring a sea change that s benefitted all the Canadian franchises, the Canucks have experienced a steady and spectacular rise since that 2000 season and are now among the most prosperous franchises in the game. Were they lucky? To a point. The Aquilinis enjoyed something of a perfect storm when they bought half the operation from McCaw in the fall of 04. Two years prior, the NBA Grizzlies had decamped for Memphis, leaving the Canucks as the only major player in the market. The Canadian dollar was also rising sharply and the NHL was in the process of installing a salary cap. Almost overnight, the Canucks turned into a money tree. But they ve also grown under the Aquilinis, and ownership s commitment to winning, especially since Mike Gillis took over, cannot be questioned. The Aquilinis have turned a profit but they ve also plowed money back into the operation, investing in infrastructure and hockey operations while swallowing hefty minor-league salaries to add players like David Booth and Christian Ehrhoff. They ve never said no, according to one source within the Canucks. And they have more aspirations for the team. A new practice facility is being contemplated as part of a massive real-estate play connected to Rogers Arena. There are plans for an all-canucks TV station, patterned after Maple Leafs TV. The Canucks success has also attracted the attention of the NBA. In 2000 there was legitimate concern for the future of this franchise. Now, they re a revenue-generating monster. It s reported the Aquilinis bought out McCaw for about $300 million. The market value of the Canucks and Rogers Arena today is at least double that. The very least. And then there are the Stars. Gaglardi, whose mother is from Texas, bought them for a bargain-basement price after the banks had foreclosed on former owner Tom Hicks. They haven t made the playoffs since They sit 28th in the NHL in attendance and 29th in payroll. True, they ve had a bounce-back season under GM Joe Nieuwendyk and new coach Glen Gulutzan and making the playoffs would be a huge step for them.

8 But there s still a long way to reclaim the territory they once occupied. The good news is that things can change quickly in the NHL. The bad news is that the Stars know that from first-hand experience. RIBEIRO SCORES TWICE AS SURGING STARS BEAT CANUCKS THE CANADIAN PRESS VANCOUVER - The Dallas Stars are riding a late-season surge to make the playoffs and need a win on the road over the Western Conference leaders. And Richard Bachman, their rookie goalie, is facing a penalty shot a few seconds after the opening faceoff. No pressure, right? Bachman stood his ground against Zack Kassian and saw the puck dribble off the Canuck rookie's stick, then settled in and backstopped the Stars to a 5-2 win over Vancouver Tuesday that put Dallas in first place in the Pacific Division. "Starting off with a penalty shot to warm up is never what you want to see as a goalie," said the 24-yearold Salt Lake City native with 16 NHL games under his belt. "Once that was done it kind of helped settle me in and after the first period I really got comfortable," Bachman said. It was only his second start ahead of Kari Lehtonen in 17 games, and he remained poised even after giving up the game's first goal. "I guess I fooled you guys," Bachman said when told he appeared pretty calm after he misplayed a shootin leading to another early chance by Henrik Sedin. "In the first period I actually felt some jitters. It was the first NHL game I started in Canada. The atmosphere was amazing." The lack of recent playing time didn't seem to faze Bachman, who improved to "You may not get too many more (starts)," he said after Dallas won for the seventh time in eight games. "It's come ready and have fun with it."

9 Mike Ribeiro scored twice to give the Stars 2-1 and 4-2 leads. Loui Eriksson started the comeback late in the second period, Jamie Benn got what proved to be the winner and Stephane Robidas scored into an empty net. Chris Higgins opened the scoring 26 minutes 45 seconds into what began as a tight-checking contest. Alex Edler drew the Canucks to within a goal at 3-2 with a shot that deflected behind Bachman off a defender's stick. Dallas ( ) swept a three-game Western Canada road trip and ended a string of five losses on Vancouver ice to continue a drive for a first Western Conference playoff berth since The Canucks ( ) lost ground in their bid for the NHL's overall lead by dropping their second game in a row at home. Vancouver also lost a second straight game in regulation for the first time since early November to fall a point behind St. Louis in the Western Conference. The ever-patient Stars capitalized on odd-man rushes and Vancouver defensive zone turnovers. Ribeiro scored with 23 seconds remaining in the second period and less than three minutes after Eriksson counted his fifth goal in six games. "We'll take that," Ribeiro said of the late goals. "We won a lot of battles along the boards. We chipped the puck. They're a team that likes to pinch and we were able to win those battles and create two-on-ones. "Most of the time teams will break or make a mistake and you can score and we just stuck with it." Benn had several close calls around Canuck netminder Roberto Luongo but finally produced what proved to be the game-winner as Dallas came from behind to beat Vancouver for the second straight game. "I was just unlucky but it was good to get that one," the Victoria native said after Steve Ott created a Canuck turnover. "It was a big goal." Sedin, the former scoring champion who's mired in a season-high six-game pointless drought, said the Canucks had plenty of chances but paid for defensive breakdowns.

10 "We made a few mistakes but had enough chances to win the game," Sedin said after his club fired 31 shots on Bachman. "The breakdowns we had turned into goals for them. "There comes a time when creating chances isn't good enough. You have to score goals to win games." The number of giveaways wasn't lost on Luongo, who made 24 saves. "Obviously that's not the type of hockey we want to be playing," he said. "Luckily they didn't connect on most of them. "A lot of their goals came from right around the goalmouth. I don't know what to make of it." Daniel Sedin, who has only an assist to show for his last six games, said the Canucks need to stay positive. "It's tough when you lose and you're not contributing," he said. "We've done some things over the last few years and we can't really panic, just keep working hard." Working hard with no passengers has been the key to Dallas's late-season run, Bachman said. "Every guy looks the same out there. Everyone's doing the little things, getting pucks deep. We're getting timely goal-scoring from some of our big players. "Everything's kind of come together at the right time and the biggest thing is just hard work." Notes: The Stars lost Daley for most of the first period when Burrows fell on him during a goalmouth scrum.... Vancouver outscored the Stars 20-5 in winning all four games between the clubs last season.... Their four meetings this campaign are compressed into a 34-day period.... The Canucks play a franchiserecord 11 home games in March. Stars top Canucks By Sports Network VANCOUVER - Mike Ribeiro scored a pair of goals and added an assist as the Pacific Division-leading Dallas Stars topped the Vancouver Canucks, 5-2, on Tuesday at Rogers Arena. Loui Eriksson and Stephane Robidas had a goal and an assist apiece and Jamie Benn also found the back of the net for the Stars, who have won three straight and six of their last seven. Richard Bachman made 29 saves in the win and Michael Ryder added a pair of helpers for Dallas.

11 Chris Higgins scored and added an assist and Alexander Edler also scored for the Canucks, who have dropped two straight and four of five. Roberto Luongo was touched up for four goals on 28 shots in the loss. Game within a game: Canucks vs. Stars Alex Burrows and Sami Salo were both minus-3 while Henrik and Daniel Sedin were both minus-2. By Elliott Pap, Vancouver Sun GAME WITHNIN GAME Three stars: 1. Mike Ribeiro, Stars. Two goals, one assist, 2 hits, plus-2, 7-for-12 on faceoffs. 2. Stephane Robidas, Stars. One goal, one assist, 2 shots, 2 hits, 6 blocked shots, plus Chris Higgins, Canucks. One goal, one assist, 2 shots, 1 hit, plus-minus. PIVOTAL POINT With time winding down in second period and the teams tied 1-1, Alex Edler pinched at the offensive blueline, did not have support and was caught, leading to a clean 2-on-1 rush against lone defender Sami Salo. Mike Ribeiro used Michael Ryder as a decoy and then went shortside top shelf on Roberto Luongo for the crucial go-ahead goal. BY THE NUMBERS The Stars improved to against Canadian-based opponents this season...canuck grinder Max Lapierre appeared in his 400th regular-season game Tuesday... Stars winger Michael Ryder extended his points streak to seven games The Canucks lost for the seventh time in regulation in the 45 games where they have scored first... Henrik and Daniel Sedin were mnius-2, while Alex Burrows and Sami Salo were minus-3. PENALTY SHOOTING Zack Kassian's failed first period penalty shot was the first attempt by a Canuck this season. Canucks opponents have had two: Daniel Paille of Boston in the Jan. 12th game and Maksim Mayorov of Columbus away back on Oct.10 in the second game of the season. Both were on Cory Schneider and both were stopped. HIT PARADE Former Vancouver Giants captain Mark Fistric was throwing his considerable weight around, all 233 pounds of it, throughout the night and finished with seven hits. The Stars had 32 as a team. The Canucks had 25. Kevin Bieksa led Vancouver with four. DID YOU KNOW? The re-born Winnipeg Jets, who visit Rogers Arena on Thursday, will make their first visit to Vancouver since Feb. 13, 1996, a game won 5-4 by the Canucks. Rick Ley was the Canuck coach that season. He was fired with six games remaining and replaced by GM Pat Quinn. Stars outshine sloppy hosts Listless Canucks look ordinary as top players continue to struggle By Brad Ziemer, Vancouver Sun

12 Their stars are struggling and not surprisingly so are the Vancouver Canucks. With the Sedins and Ryan Kesler silent, the Canucks suddenly are looking like a rather ordinary team. They scored first Tuesday night, but couldn't do much after that and dropped a sloppy 5-2 decision to the Dallas Stars at Rogers Arena. The loss was the second straight in regulation for the Canucks. That hasn't happened since early November, when they dropped back-to-back games in Minnesota and St. Louis. The Canucks have now lost four of their last five games, which is their worst slump of the season. Henrik Sedin has gone six games without a point, while Daniel Sedin has one point in the last six. Kesler has scored one goal in his last 13 games. To make matters worse, the Sedins and Alex Burrows struggled on defence and were on the ice for both Dallas goals in the third period. Coach Alain Vigneault continues to preach patience with the Sedins. "Those guys have been the foundation of this team since I have been here and I have a lot of trust and faith in them," he said after the game. "You have to trust that they are going to figure it out." The twins and Burrows were a combined minus-seven on the night. "Their game is definitely not where they want it to be," Vigneault said. "We can say they are getting chances, we can say all the right things, but at the end of the day they are our offensive players, they are there to produce and right now they are fighting it a little bit." Henrik Sedin seemed reluctant to acknowledge that he and his brother are indeed struggling. "I thought we played a pretty good game," Henrik said. "We made a few mistakes, but I thought we had enough chances to win the game. It seemed like the breakdowns we had turned out to be a goal for them. "There comes a time when creating chances isn't good enough. You have to score goals to win games and that's where we are right now." The Stars, who are now in their last 11 games and beat the Canucks in over-time last weekend in Dallas, got a big insurance goal from Jamie Benn at 4: 25 of the third period. Seconds after teammate Adam Burish had fanned on an empty net, Benn got the puck in the left circle and beat Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo to give the Stars a 3-1 lead. Canuck defenceman Alex Edler made it interesting at 7: 55 of the third when he skated up the middle of the ice and put a long shot over the right shoulder of Dallas goalie Richard Bachman. But the Stars scored off the rush at 11: 11 of the third when Mike Ribeiro converted a goal-mouth pass from Michael Ryder and restored their two-goal lead. Stephane Robidas added an empty-netter with four seconds remaining.

13 Winger Chris Higgins, who had a goal and assisted on Edler's third-period goal, suggested the Canucks are perhaps not as motivated as some of their opposition, who like the Stars are battling for their playoff lives. The Canucks, with a huge lead in the Northwest Division, seem destined to finish either first or second in the Western Conference. "The playoffs have started for a number of teams already," Higgins said. "They are battling every night just for the two points in the standings. We have to find that hunger as well. We have to find that hunger to win the conference, be the best team in the Western Conference. It helped last year with the home ice [advantage] through those first three series." The Canucks grabbed a 1-0 lead at 6: 45 of the second period when Higgins beat Bachman stick side with a wrist shot from the top of the right circle. The play started when the Stars turned over the puck at the Vancouver blue-line. Dallas defenceman Alex Goligoski then blew a tire, allowing Higgins room to skate down the right wing. But the Stars got two quick goals late in the second to grab the lead. A Trevor Daley pass hit the left skate of Loui Eriksson and got by Luongo at the 16: 44 mark. The power-play goal came with Burrows off serving a slashing minor. Ribeiro put the Stars in front when he beat Luongo on a 2-on-1 rush with Ryder. Ribeiro hung onto the puck and was allowed to skate in close on Luongo before snapping a shot over the left shoulder of the Canuck goalie. The goal came with 23 seconds remaining in the second period. "This one was a tough one to assess," Luongo said. "I really don't know what to make of it. It was a weird game, a lot of their goals came from right in the goalmouth... Obviously that is not the type of hockey we want to be playing. Luckily, they didn't connect on most of them [odd-man rushes]." The highlight of a scoreless first period came early. Zack Kassian was awarded a penalty shot 24 seconds into the game when he was hooked from behind on a breakaway by Dallas defenceman Mark Fistric. Kassian lost the puck as he tried to move it to his backhand as he skated in on Bachman. "To be honest I was pretty nervous," Kassian said. "I was gripping the stick pretty tight. It was tough, it's always tough not to convert on those. I do that move all the time, but I was just a little nervous and the puck slid off my stick." GAME OVER THURSDAY, MARCH 1 AT VANCOUVER Canucks 2 Blues 0 Burrows and Higgins score, and Luongo stops everything. SATURDAY, MARCH 3 AT VANCOUVER

14 Sabres 5 Canucks 3 Luongo gives up 3 goals in 5 minutes and the team can't recover. WIN TUESDAY, MARCH 6 AT VANCOUVER Stars 5 Canucks 2 Back-to-back losses at home, fourth loss in their past five games. LOSS