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Samuelsson providing spark in Vancouver Print
Northwest
Written by Mike Cook   
Tuesday, March 16, 2010 10:59
Northwest Division notebook:

The Olympic break seems to have done wonders to Mikael Samuelsson, who had good reason to simmer throughout much of the competition.

In eight games since the break, Samuelsson has nine goals and four assists to provide a spark for the Canucks. Samuelsson's six-game goal streak ended Sunday, but he had an assist in the 3-1 win over Calgary. With 13 games to go, he has already established career highs in goals (30) and points (53). He signed last July as a free agent after four seasons with Detroit.

Samuelsson's biggest game came March 9 in Colorado, when his first career hat trick keyed a rally from a 3-0 first-period deficit in a 6-4 win. He was named the league's Player of the Week Monday after leading all NHL scorers with 10 points (six goals, four assists) in four games last week. 

In 31 games since finding out he was omitted from the Olympic roster (and saying coach Bengt-Aake Gustafsson and the rest of the Swedish Olympic hockey program "can go f*** themselves") he is playing at nearly a point-a-game pace, with 20 goals and 10 assists.

It has helped that, since the break, he has played on the top line between Henrik and Daniel Sedin. The trio played together at the 2006 Olympics.

“Confidence is always a big thing … and the twins' line with Sammy has been on fire," said Alex Burrows.

The Sedin twins each had eight points last week: Henrik had two goals and six assists; Daniel had three goals and five assists to extend his point streak to 10 games. Daniel also has assists in 10 straight games, which ties him for the league's longest streak with Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Martin St. Louis. Henrik surpassed Trevor Linden atop the team's all-time assist list Sunday with his 416th career helper.

"They play the game in the same way," Samuelsson said. "It doesn't have to go 100 miles an hour every time. Everybody sees the ice pretty good to make some plays."

Henrik Sedin likes his new linemate. "He's not a tough guy to play with and we're having a lot of fun."

So have all the Canucks, 6-1-1 in their last eight games entering Tuesday's tilt with the Islanders.

Vancouver went 8-5-1 on a NHL-record 14-game road trip sandwiched around the Olympic break, and entered Tuesday with a five-point lead in the Northwest Division.

With eight of its final 13 games at GM Place, the Canucks are not celebrating anything yet, but one could understand if some division champion merchandise is being designed. Vancouver has won seven straight at home and is 25-7-1 at the Garage. Their last home-ice defeat was Jan. 11 – the night of the incident between Burrows and official Stephane Auger. The only road games left are four in California and one in Edmonton.

"We played probably one of our best games of the year tonight," Roberto Luongo said after Saturday's 5-1 win over Ottawa. "We're just excited to get back."

CALGARY

Huge loss for Calgary on Monday, losing 2-1 at home to Detroit, and falling three points behind the Red Wings for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with 13 games to play. Craig Conroy scored 1:47 in, but the Flames were kept off the board despite many quality chances, including a four-minute power play in the third period. “There’s no time to hang our heads,” said Curtis Glencross, who missed a penalty shot that would have given the Flames a 2-0 lead late in the second period. “We’ve got to go to Colorado for a huge game (Wednesday). Any game down the stretch here now, we can’t afford to lose too many more. It’s a gut check and desperation time for us.” … Steve MacFarlane of the Calgary Sun is not optimistic about the Flames' playoff chances. … A four-game winning streak ended with a 3-1 loss Sunday in Vancouver. Calgary was outshot 20-6 in the first period, allowing three goals in the frame. … RW Jarome Iginla has gone scoreless in three straight after scoring seven goals and recording five assists in his previous six games. … Niklas Hagman has just one point in six games since the Olympic break. For the past three games, he has found himself on the third line with Conroy and David Moss. … Christopher Higgins did not play Monday. Higgins participated in Monday's optional skate, but he was later seen wearing a walking cast on his right foot. … LW Rene Bourque appeared in his 300th NHL game on Sunday. … The Flames announced that their third sweater next year would be the team's vintage sweater. … Miikka Kiprusoff made 33 saves for his fourth shutout of the season and 34th overall, and his teammates combined to block 30 more shots in a 2-0 win over Ottawa Thursday. Jamal Mayers scored his first goal – and point – as a Flame in the win. He was part of a Jan. 31 trade with Toronto.

COLORADO

G Peter Budaj is expected to start Tuesday against St. Louis. Craig Anderson, who had started a team-record 23 straight games, made 48 saves in Sunday's 5-3 win over Dallas. Anderson made 27 saves in Thursday's 3-0 win over Florida to move into a tie for the NHL shutout lead with seven. … Over the last six games, the Avs' power play is 8 for 20. “I think we’re shooting and getting more shots through,” said Paul Stastny, who scored one of his two Sunday goals on the power play. “You can’t get too cute. Sometimes when you get shots off, that’s when plays open up.”… Forwards Stephane Yelle and Cody McLeod left Sunday's game with leg injuries, and are questionable for Tuesday. Darcy Tucker, who was skating with the pair, responded with a goal and an assist. "It was good for Darcy, because he stepped up and he gave us some good minutes," coach Joe Sacco told the Denver Post. "He did a good job filling in. When those guys went down, we basically went to three lines and rotated (Kevin) Porter a little bit, but Darcy stepped up and did a good job for us today." … Ruslan Salei reportedly skated on his own after practice on Saturday. He did not accompany the team on its trip to Dallas. Salei also took to the ice by himself last Wednesday in his recovery from a March 6 upper-torso injury. … On the road, the Avalanche are averaging 2.7 goals per game, and giving up 2.8 goals. 

EDMONTON
A 6-4 loss in Toronto on Saturday officially eliminated the Oilers from playoff contention. If Edmonton finishes with the league's worst record, it'll pick no wore than second in the 2010 NHL Draft and likely get one of two highly touted forwards – Taylor Hall of the Windsor Spitfires or Tyler Seguin of the Plymouth Whalers. ... D Tom Gilbert will not buy the lose-to-gain attitude. "As an organization, you look at teams like Pittsburgh, who've managed to get players like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, and how great they've become," he told the Canadian Press. "If you go out there and you want to get that first or second pick and you want to lose, that's a loser mentality. As a player, you don't want that to sink into you. You play to win regardless of what place you're in. Anything else is a loser mentality." … Shawn Horcoff has been playing better lately, and tells the Edmonton Journal he wants to finish strong to make something out of a bad season. … Rookie D Theo Peckham received two 10-minute misconducts in the third period against Toronto, including one for jumping Dion Phaneuf after the latter dropped forward Ryan Potulny. Peckham has 38 penalty minutes in 11 games. He also has 33 hits in that span. … Andrew Cogliano recorded his 100th NHL point with a goal Saturday. … ESPN's E.J. Hradek wrote in his blog, "There are many who believe that Jaromir Jagr will make a return to the NHL by signing with the Oilers this summer. We know that Jagr enjoys a good relationship with Edmonton associate coach Tom Renney and assistant coach Wayne Fleming. Jagr has played for both men during his career. He worked for Renney in New York and Fleming in Omsk (KHL)." … Playing in only his fourth game as an Oiler, D Ryan Whitney took a shot off the right knee Thursday and hobbled off the ice. He played 27:09 two nights later. Ethan Moreau returned Saturday after missing 10 days with a neck injury. Edmonton has lost 393 man-games to injury, 168 more than last year's total. … Entering Monday's game in Columbus, Edmonton had blocked the fourth-most shots in the NHL with 1,073. The New York Islanders lead the way with 1179. 

 MINNESOTA

G Niklas Backstrom has missed three games since tweaking his groin before Thursday's practice in Detroit. Wade Dubielewicz was recalled from AHL Houston to back up Josh Harding. After a bad night in Detroit, Harding stopped 41 shots in a win at Buffalo and had a 36-save performance against the Blues Sunday in a 4-2 win. … RW Martin Havlat posted two assists Sunday. It was his ninth multiple-point game this season, but first since Feb. 10. … LW Andrew Brunette scored his 20th goal of the season Sunday, the sixth time in his career he has reached that mark. His career-high of 27 was set in 2006-07. … D Cam Barker has a goal and three assists in the eight games since his acquisition from Chicago. He’s also a plus-4. … Enforcer Derek Boogaard played 11 seconds Sunday, going to the locker room with a bloodied nose after squaring off with D.J. King in the first period. He is day-to-day. … C Mikko Koivu needs one goal to match his career-best of 20 in a season. He has 17 multi-point games this season, five shy of the team record. … Minnesota signed free agent center Casey Wellman to an entry-level contract Tuesday. Wellman led the University of Massachusetts with 23 goals as a sophomore this season, which put him in a tie for sixth in the nation. His 45 points ranked second among the Minutemen. He could make his NHL debut Tuesday. … D Justin Falk was recalled from Houston Tuesday and could make his NHL debut that night. … Travis Richards, the brother of coach Todd Richards, brought his 12-year-old son, Riley, to watch the Wild practice in Detroit. Riley was a given a stick by his favorite player, Mikko Koivu. "That made his day," Todd Richards said. "For kids, it means the world to them when they're able to experience things like this." … Beginning Tuesday, Minnesota plays four games in six days with home games against Edmonton and Calgary sandwiched around a trip to Nashville and Columbus. … The Wild is 10-3-2 in its past 15 at home and has beaten Edmonton in 12 consecutive home games. … Maxim Noreau leads Houston in scoring with 47 points (17-30-47), one point better than Jean-Michael Daoust (19-27-46) and Jon DiSalvatore (19-27-46).

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The last small deal of the evening was Edmonton trading forward Matt Marquardt to Boston for defenseman Cody Wild.
Air Jordan Shoes , March 17, 2010

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