Mikael Samuelson scored twice and Ryan Kesler
tallied three assists in Vancouver's 4-1 victory over the New York Rangers in
a fiery contest from General Motors Place.
The game featured five misconduct penalties as a result of a scrum early in
the third period. A total of 19 penalties were called in the game.
Henrik Sedin also scored for Vancouver and Rick Rypien had the go-ahead tally
in the third period as the Canucks won for the sixth time in eight games.
Andrew Raycroft made 22 saves for the victory.
Chris Higgins scored and Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves for the Rangers, who
have dropped six of their last eight contests.
There was a delay of nearly 10 minutes early in the third period thanks to
fisticuffs from 17 players on the ice at one time. Kesler and Marian Gaborik
came together and then a major scrum started and it later spilled over to the
penalty box and the team benches.
"He cross-checked me so I gave him a little shot. The next thing you know I
had six guys on top of me," said Kesler.
After being shown to the penalty box for a misconduct call, New York left wing
Dane Byers nearly came out after being egged on by Vancouver defenseman Kevin
Bieksa, who was also headed off the ice for a misconduct penalty. Alex Burrows
was also given a 10-minute misconduct for the Canucks stemming from the melee.
The jawing and jabbing continued off the ice. While on the team bench,
Vancouver defenseman Shane O'Brien jabbed his stick across television
commentator Ray Ferraro and into the chest of Rangers forward Sean Avery, who
in turn grabbed the stick.
"I missed how all of it started, but I saw 30 guys on the ice," said Raycroft.
"It looked like the 1907s out there at one point."
O'Brien was given a misconduct and the Rangers scored just after a power play
expired to tie the game at the 6:24 mark. Brandon Dubinsky passed in front to
Higgins for his first goal as a member of the Rangers.
The goal was on a delayed penalty as Bieksa was given an unsportsmanlike
conduct call while in the box. But the Canucks scored shorthanded to go ahead
at 8:48 of the period when Kesler passed the disc from the left boards to the
bottom of the right circle where Rypien put the puck high past Lundqvist.
The game went into another delay with 7:59 left in the third when Vancouver's
Mathieu Schneider shot the puck and it cracked the glass behind the net.
Samuelsson scored on the power play with 5:47 remaining. Kesler's shot from
the slot rang off the wall behind the net and Samuelsson scored from in front,
placing the puck between Lundqvist's pads.
Sedin scored into an empty net with 1:24 left.
"We knew they were going to come out and play hard, but we needed to play
harder," said Dubinsky. "We had a chance to win this game. It was a pretty
tight game and then a couple of turnovers, a couple of penalties hurt us."
The Canucks grabbed a 1-0 lead with 1:17 remaining in the first period on
Samuelsson's seventh goal of the season, as he put in a rebound from in front.
Game Notes
Sedin gingerly skated off the ice in the third period after blocking a shot
before returning...Byers was involved in a fight with Vancouver's Tanner Glass
with just over a minute remaining...Vancouver is 5-1-0 against the Rangers in
the last six meetings...The Canucks improved to 7-2-0 at home...This was the
opener of a three-game Western Canadian road trip with the Rangers playing
Edmonton Thursday and Calgary Saturday...The Canucks start a five-game road
trip at Minnesota Thursday...New York was 0-for-5 on the power play, while
Vancouver was 1-for-6.
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