VANCOUVER
Minnesota Wild T-Shirts Authentic , British Columbia (AP) — Before the Canucks started their season, coach Travis Green said he wanted his team to “score by
committee.”Vancouver did just that Wednesday night in a 4-2 victory over the
Chicago Blackhawks.Jake Virtanen scored twice, Brendan Gaunce got the go-ahead
goal midway through the third period and Antoine Roussel also found the net for
the Canucks.“It’s easier said than done, but any team that wins in this league
has secondary scoring usually,” Green said. “You need guys at certain times to
step up. It’s not one or two or three guys that can score every night.”It was
the first two-goal game of Virtanen’s career. At one point in the third period,
it appeared he might have a chance at a hat trick, but the 22-year-old right
wing chose not to push it.“I didn’t want to go out of position or
anything
Minnesota Wild Hoodies Authentic ,” he said. “I wanted to make sure we weren’t getting scored on. … We’d rather just secure the win and call it a day.”Jacob
Markstrom made 24 saves for Vancouver.Brandon Saad and Jonathan Toews scored for
the Blackhawks. Corey Crawford turned away 24 shots, but coach Joel Quenneville
thought turnovers were a big problem.“I think it was self-inflicted on the goals
against,” he said. “Preventable, all of them, and they turned turnovers into the
back of the net.”The team got sloppy with the puck, according to Saad.“A couple
posts and unlucky bounces, but regardless we have to tighten up
defensively
Minnesota Wild Hats Authentic ,” he said. “We give that team that much rush chances and time and space and they are going to capitalize. It definitely wasn’t good
enough defensively.”Gaunce scored at 9:23 of the third after he snatched up a
Chicago pass. The goal was the sixth of his NHL career, with the last one coming
on Feb. 1.“I just tried to get it off as quick as I could,” he said. “I knew
(Crawford) was coming out and he was a little bit off because it was such a
quick play and I just tried to get it up.”Gaunce also assisted on Roussel’s late
goal in his first game with the Canucks this season. He was called up Tuesday
from the Utica Comets of the AHL to help fill out a roster riddled by
injuries.The 24-year-old said he was playing with a bit of a chip on his
shoulder.“I want to be in the NHL, and at the start of the year. I obviously
wasn’t, so there was a reason for that,” Gaunce said. “You come in here with the
mentality that you’re going to make a difference and you’re going to kind of
make them have to keep you.”Chicago got on the scoreboard first with Saad
scoring his third of the season midway through the first period. The left wing
beat Canucks defenseman Erik Gudbranson in Vancouver’s end and put a hard shot
on net. Markstrom appeared to get a piece of it but the puck trickled in
underneath him.Virtanen responded in the 15th minute after the Blackhawks turned
over the puck in the neutral zone. He picked up speed on a breakaway and put a
high shot past Crawford.The Blackhawks went back on top with a power-play goal
early in the second after Canucks defenseman Michael Del Zotto took a
cross-checking penalty late in the first.Toews fired in a wrister from the top
of the faceoff circle to give him 299 goals for the Blackhawks, sixth-most in
franchise history.Chicago is 30th in the NHL on the power play. Wednesday marked
the sixth time this season the Blackhawks have scored with the man
advantage.Virtanen followed with his second of the night just more than 12
minutes into the second period. He scooped up a pass just inside the blue line
and fired a quick shot past Crawford to tie it 2-all. Virtanen has five goals
and two assists this season.NOTES: Blackhawks star Patrick Kane sat out due to
illness
Custom Minnesota Wild Jerseys , the first time he’s been out of the lineup since breaking his collarbone in February 2015. … Vancouver defenseman Troy Stecher
left midway through the third after colliding with Chicago’s Brandon Manning.
Green said Stecher went through mandatory concussion testing and is fine.UP
NEXTBlackhawks: At the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.Canucks: Host the
Colorado Avalanche on Friday in the finale of a four-game homestand. DETROIT
(AP) — Dustin Byfuglien said everything he wanted to say during another win for
Winnipeg.The veteran defenseman got his 500th career point when he snapped a tie
with 6:45 left, helping the Jets beat the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 on Friday
night.Winnipeg (7-3-1) won for the fourth time in five games. Kyle Connor scored
in the second period, and Laurent Brossoit stopped 27 shots.“I’m pleased to get
a 2-1 road win and we don’t give anything up five-on-five. Our goalie was good
and their goalie was outstanding at times,” coach Paul Maurice said. “It was a
night you had to battle for every inch and we did a real good job of
that.”Byfuglien skated in from the point and beat Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard
from the bottom of the right circle. Byfuglien did not talk to reporters after
the game.“He’s a great teammate. He brings a lot of energy. He keeps the mood
light,” Brossoit said. “On the ice, he takes charge. He goes rover sometimes but
it gives the other team a bit of unpredictability that they have to deal
with.”Howard got some of the shot but the puck dropped into the net.“He came in,
he got a good shot off
www.officialcanadiensprostore.com , went off my shoulder actually,” Howard said. “But then it hit me in the side of
the helmet and just dropped in.”It was Byfuglien’s second goal of the
season.Andreas Athanasiou scored for Detroit (1-7-2). Howard had 38 saves.“Good
through the first and parts of the third but not very good in the second,”
Howard said of his team’s play.Red Wings defenseman Mike Green made his season
debut after recovering from a virus that attacked his liver.Connor tied it at 1
with a power-play goal with 3:46 remaining in the middle period. He backhanded a
loose puck into an empty net from in front.It was the fifth goal for Connor, who
is a native of the Detroit suburb of Shelby Township.“It was a good road win. We
really came on in the second period and just stuck with it,” Connor said. “We
kept playing the same game and we got rewarded.”The Jets outshot the Red Wings
21-4 in the second. Howard stopped Bryan Little on a breakaway with 7:38 left
and made a spectacular glove save on Little’s tip with 4:17 remaining in the
period.Athanasiou’s power-play goal gave Detroit a 1-0 lead with 4:33 left in
the first. He converted a one-time slap shot from the top of the right circle.
It was Athanasiou’s fourth goal and his second in two games.Detroit’s Gustav
Nyquist hit the crossbar early in the game and teammate Darren Helm hit a goal
post on a short-handed rush with 2:25 remaining in the opening period.NOTES: The
Jets play two games in Finland against the Florida Panthers next week. … Center
Jacob de la Rose made his Red Wings debut after being claimed off waivers from
the Montreal Canadiens last week.UP NEXTJets: Visit Toronto on Saturday
night.Red Wings: Host Dallas on Sunday.
