Advertisement

Vancouver 4, Buffalo 2

BUFFALO, N.Y., Feb. 7 (UPI) -- Markus Naslund took over the NHL scoring lead with a goal and an assist Friday night as the Vancouver Canucks stretched their unbeaten streak to six games with a 4-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.

Naslund set up Brendan Morrison's goal that opened the scoring 5:53 into the contest, then scored his league-leading 36th goal on a breakaway that made it 2-0 with just 19 seconds left in the period.

Advertisement

The two points gave the Swede 70, one more than Pittsburgh's Mario Lemieux.

Buffalo's losing streak was extended to five games and it comes on the heels of a season-high, seven-game unbeaten streak.

Vancouver's first two goals came off Buffalo turnovers and the Sabres never recovered. The Canucks improved to 3


3 in their last six contests.

Following a turnover in the neutral zone, Naslund and Morrison broke in on a two on one. Naslund fed a cross-ice pass to Morrison, who beat Martin Biron to the stick side for his first goal since Dec. 26 -- a span of 19 games.

Advertisement

With time running out in the period, Buffalo defenseman James Patrick coughed up the puck in the neutral zone. Trevor Linden sprang Naslund, who broke in alone, deked Biron out of position and flipped a backhander that got a piece of Biron's glove before dropping into the net.

After Artem Chubarov tallied 76 seconds into the second to give the Canucks a 3-0 lead, Buffalo tried to rally. Dmitri Kalinin and Ales Kotalik scored in the first seven minutes of the period, sandwiched around a goal by Vancouver's Daniel Sedin, to make it 4-2.

Dan Cloutier preserved the lead, turning aside 34 shots, including 14 in the second and 11 in the third. Biron recorded 26 saves.

Latest Headlines