GAME ESSENTIALS
THE SKINNY
The Canucks struck fi rst at the 13: 52 mark of the opening period as Henrik Sedin deflected home a Dan Hamhuis point shot. They gave that one back at 18: 39 when Paul Stastny, right, beat Jacob Markstrom fi ve- hole on a breakaway. After a scoreless second, Stastny made it 2- 1 at 5: 21 of the third with David Booth responding 1: 39 later. Tyson Barrie put it away at 12: 30 as he sifted past Alex Edler during a 4- on- 4 before beating Markstrom. John Mitchell added a power- play empty- netter.
BY THE NUMBERS
Henrik Sedin’s goal was his fi rst in nine games but just his second in 33. Daniel, lower right, has no goals in six games and one in his last 30 ... Alex Edler was minus- 2 and now sits at minus- 36. Only Steve Ott, at minus- 38, has a worse mark ... The Avs tied a franchise record with their 52nd victory while goalie Semyon Varlamov won his 41st game, breaking Patrick Roy’s franchise record ... The Canucks fell to 11- 4- 8 when tied after 40 minutes and completed their record against Central Division teams with a 10- 8- 3 record.
LACK FINALLY RESTS
After 19 straight starts, Canucks rookie goalie Eddie Lack, right, was given the night off Thursday. Was he worn out? “Now that we didn’t make the playoff s, it all kind of hit me like a couple of days ago,” said the Swede. “I felt like I almost crashed. It was like everything was over.” With the coaching staff planning to deploy Jacob Markstrom the rest of the way, Lack should fi nish the season at 16- 17- 5 with a 2.41 GAA.
DOWN ON THE FARM
The Utica Comets kept their slim American Hockey League playoff hopes alive Thursday with a 3- 2 overtime victory over the Lake Erie Monsters, Colorado’s farm team. Pascal Pelletier scored the OT winner with Jeremy Welsh and Brandon DeFazio netting the others. Joacim Eriksson made 19 saves for the win. The Comets, 11th in the AHL’s Western Conference, sit four points out of a playoff spot with fi ve games remaining. They will likely have to run the table, as well as get some major help, in order to sneak in.