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| April 20, 2003 | Sunday | Safar 17, 1424 |
Canucks find scoring touch against Blues
VANCOUVER, April 19: The low-scoring Vancouver Canucks got second-period goals from Todd Bertuzzi, Brendan Morrison and Markus Naslund in a 5-3 win over the St Louis Blues in NHL playoff action on Friday.
With the victory, the Canucks staved off elimination in their Western Conference quarter-final series, with the Blues now nursing a 3-2 lead.
Game Six is on Sunday in St Louis.
Brent Sopel got the Canucks’ first marker just 2:15 into the game.
Tyson Nash replied for the Blues early in the second period to tie the game 1-1 before the Canuck trio went to work.
St Louis rallied with two third-period goals to make it close again.
Sami Salo scored in the final minute to sew it up for the Canucks, who were playing before a full house for the 40th straight time.
There is no love lost between the teams, with the Blues’ Dallas Drake drawing a five-minute major for boarding with just nine seconds on the clock.
In Tampa Bay, the Lightning did not disappoint a record crowd of more than 20,000, getting a goal from diminutive Martin St. Louis midway through the final period to edge the Washington Capitals 2-1.
With the win, the Lightning took a 3-2 lead in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarter-final series, with Game Six set for Washington on Sunday afternoon.
The Capitals began the series with two straight victories.
St Louis, who also assisted on Vaclav Prospal’s opening goal 13:52 into the first frame, found the mark at 11:53 of the third, with Stan Neckar and Vincent Lecavalier helping out.
Michael Nylander got Washington’s only goal at 17 minutes of the second period, with Jaromir Jagr and Ivan Ciernik assisting.
The Caps fired several point-blank shots at Tampa netminder Nikolai Khabibulin in the final minute, but could not beat the Russian a second time.
The Lightning have never won a playoff series in their 11-year history.
Friday’s playoff results:
Eastern Conference quarterfinal:
TAMPA BAY 2 Washington 1
(Tampa Bay lead best-of-seven series 3-2)
Western Conference quarterfinal:
VANCOUVER 5 St Louis 3
(St Louis lead best-of-seven series 3-2)
—Reuters
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