Luongo, Canucks Top Panthers

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Daniel Sedin scored his second goal of the game with 5:08 left and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Florida Panthers 2-1 on Monday night.

Twin brother Henrik Sedin and linemate Mikael Samuelsson each had two assists, and Roberto Luongo made 41 saves as the Canucks bounced back from a shootout loss to Los Angeles in their first game on Saturday.

After opening the scoring on a short rebound in the first period, Daniel put the Canucks ahead again on a late scramble. Tomas Vokoun made an amazing headfirst dive save at one side of the net, but the puck squirted out the other side and this time it was Daniel lunging forward to knock it over the goal line.

Rostislav Olesz scored, and Vokoun finished with 33 saves for the Panthers, who opened the season with a loss in Edmonton on Sunday.

Vokoun, who only stopped 10 of 13 shots in Edmonton, had to be sharp early, stopping Kevin Bieksa on tip-in tight and Guillaume Desbiens on a breakaway in the opening 90 seconds. He made a handful of good saves in the second to keep it close, including a sliding 2-on-1 stop on Henrik Sedin, and Olesz tied it on a harmless looking play with 38 seconds left in the period.

Olesz just threw the puck at the net from the high sideboards and it went off a pair of Canucks -- first the stick of Samuelsson and then the skate of Alex Edler -- and past a surprised Luongo.

Luongo kept it tied with a sprawling left pad save off Shawn Matthias from the slot with 7:30 left, and made a nice pokecheck on David Booth in tight in the final minutes to preserve the win.

The Canucks didn't have a power play, while the Panthers were 0 for 3.

Copyright Associated Press

Leave Comments