BONINO BONANZA
Centre shakes slump as Canucks strand Islanders
Nick Bonino bumped a slump. So did Linden Vey.
Ryan Stanton? He doesn’t quite know how to describe the dry spell that he finally snapped Tuesday when the Vancouver Canucks beat the New York Islanders 3-2 at Rogers Arena.
Stanton went zero for 2014. Didn’t score a goal the entire calendar year. When he drove home a rebound off a Brad Richardson shot to tie the game 1-1 in the first period, it ended a little 83-game drought for the Canucks defenceman. He hadn’t scored since Oct. 17, 2013.
“It definitely felt nice,” Stanton said. “I mean obviously I am not a huge goal-scorer, but when you go 80-something games without scoring, it definitely starts to creep into the back of your mind. It was nice to help the team out and it feels even nicer in a win.”
Stanton joked that it had been so long since he scored that he didn’t quite know how to react when the puck went by Islanders goalie Jaroslav Halak.
“When it has been a year and a half, you forget,” he said. “First time I’ve raised my hands after a goal in a while, so I really didn’t know what to do.”
Bonino’s second-period goal was his first in eight games and just his second in 24 outings. He had opened the season with seven goals in his first 14 games.
“I’m sure you guys know what it’s like,” Bonino said. “It’s not fun. But I think I am doing well in other areas of the ice. I feel like I am playing good hockey. The puck just wouldn’t go in. I have been getting chances every night. Tonight one went in. Hopefully it continues.”
Vey, who scored on a breakaway late in the second period, had not scored in 12 games. He wasn’t even supposed to be playing Tuesday.
Head coach Willie Desjardins juggled his lines in an attempt to find more five-on-five scoring and it seemed to work, although not quite the way he expected.
The Canucks were forced to make a late lineup change when winger Radim Vrbata was scratched due to illness. Vrbata, a fixture with Daniel and Henrik Sedin this season and the team’s leading goal-scorer, was scheduled to play on the second line with Bonino and Chris Higgins. Vrbata’s spot on the second line was taken by Vey.
“When he found out he was on our line I think he decided he’d be sick,” Bonino joked abut Vrbata. “He was sick this morning for the pre-game skate. It’s tough not to have him, but it was good to get the win.”
Goalie Eddie Lack, playing for first time since Dec. 17, was solid. He stopped 21 shots to earn his third win of the season. He also earned a measure of redemption for a debacle last March when he allowed six third-period goals and the Islanders stormed back from a 3-0 deficit after two periods to beat the Canucks 7-4.
“I was kind of thinking about it a little before the third period, but then once I got in playing I was feeling normal again,” Lack said.
He hopes another solid start will mean he doesn’t have to wait three weeks to get another one.
“It has been tough going with the wins so far,” Lack said, “especially at home. This is my first one. It is very important to me to string a couple together here and maybe get a couple more starts.”
The new was not all good for the Canucks. Richardson left the game midway through the second period after blocking a Matt Donovan shot. The team said he suffered a lower-body injury. After the game, Desjardins said he thought the centre would be OK.
Bonino gave the Canucks a 2-1 lead at 8:01 of the second when he scored off a rebound of a Kevin Bieksa point shot.
It was just the kind of goal Desjardins said his team needs more of.
“I think it’s just the way the goals go in,” Desjardins said. “If you’re not getting (the pretty ones), then you’ve got to go to the net and get the ugly goals, and then maybe the good ones will start coming again.”
Nine minutes after Bonino gave the Canucks the lead, Vey scored on a breakaway after receiving a nice stretch pass by Derek Dorsett.
The Canucks had to survive some anxious moments after Mikhail Grabovski made it 3-2 at 14:33 of the third after a Bieksa turnover in his own end.
But they survived and improved their record to 23-123. They are in second place in the Pacific Division with 49 points.