NHL: Vancouver 4, Minnesota 0

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Roberto Luongo notched his first shutout of the season Monday, stopping 33 shots in leading the Vancouver Canucks to a 4-0 whitewash of Minnesota.

Luongo was most active in the first period, blocking 13 shots as the Canucks grabbed a 1-0 lead on Henrik Sedin's power-play goal.

Ryan Kesler and Alex Burrows broke the contest open with second-period goals and Jannik Hansen tallied in the final frame for the second-place Canucks, who pulled to within three points of the Wild in the Northwest Division.

Niklas Backstrom turned aside 29-of-33 shots for Minnesota, which dropped a season-worst fourth straight game while again playing without injured leading scorer Mikko Koivu.

The Wild fell to 0-7-2 in their last nine visits to Vancouver.