VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Dan Cloutier is becoming the No. 1 goaltender the Vancouver Canucks believed he would.
Cloutier made 22 saves Saturday for his second career shutout and Harold Druken scored to spark a three-goal first period as the Canucks blanked the Colorado Avalanche, 4-0, for their first home win of the season.
Coming off a 4-1 win at Dallas on Thursday, Cloutier did even better against another Western Conference power. He stopped six shots in the first period, 11 in the second and five in the third for his first shutout since December 2, when he defeated Detroit for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Druken was a healthy scratch Thursday but got the Canucks going 5:56 into this game. Jarkko Ruutu made a quick pass from behind the net and Druken came out from the left side and slid a backhander inside the far goalpost for his first goal of the season.
Just over two minutes later, Trent Klatt took a cross-ice pass from Markus Naslund and snapped a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle that beat goaltender David Aebischer high to the stick side. It was his fourth goal of the season and third in as many games.
Donald Brashear beat defenseman Rob Blake to a loose puck, and then beat Aebischer on a breakaway with 32 seconds to go in the period, giving Vancouver a commanding 3-0 lead.
Aebischer made 18 saves in his first start of the season for the Avalanche, who have lost two in a row after opening with a pair of wins.
