Vancouver Canucks forward Alex Burrows celebrated his contract extension Tuesday by making it a lot tougher for Minnesota Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom to enjoy the first night of his new deal.
Backstrom’s four-year, $24-million extension earlier in the day may have trumped the four-year, $8 million deal Burrows agreed to just before the game. But with two goals, the gritty Vancouver Canucks winger was the only one smiling after a 4-2 win over the Minnesota Wild.
Burrows rewarded that faith against the Minnesota Wild, leading the charge as the Vancouver Canucks won for the 11th time in 13 games to stay four points ahead of Columbus for fifth place in the tightly packed Western Conference. Minnesota fell nine points back into 11th place—and three points behind a three-way tie for the final two playoff spots—after losing its fourth straight game.
In addition to sparking a comeback with his first goal after the Vancouver Canucks fell behind 2-0, he helped change the momentum on a dominant shift with about seven minutes left in the second period. Combining with new linemates Daniel and Henrik Sedin, Burrows controlled the play for almost 2 1/2 minutes in the Minnesota Wild end. They didn’t score, but set the stage for Pavol Demitra and Steve Bernier, who got goals 28 seconds apart before the period ended.
Demitra, who left Minnesota last summer to sign with Vancouver, fired a 37-foot slap shot over Backstrom’s glove with 2:04 left in the second period. It followed a Wild turnover just outside their blue line that allowed Mats Sundin to chip the puck ahead for a partial breakaway. Another turnover on the next shift—this time Marek Zidlicky and James Sheppard failed to clear—allowed Bernier to pounce on a loose puck in the slot, spin and fire it under Backstrom.
Dan Fritsche and Zidlicky staked Minnesota Wild to a 2-0 lead 7 1/2 minutes into the game. Burrows started the comeback with a nice deflection seconds after a power play ended midway through the first period, and helped keep it going as part of the Vancouver Canucks’ dominant second-period shift.
Burrows added his second goal of the game on a breakaway with 6:57 left, taking a nice pass from Henrik Sedin and beating Backstrom with a strong deke to his backhand. It was the 18th goal and 35th point of the season for Burrows, who was rewarded as he continues to build on career highs in both departments.
The 27-year-old Burrows started the season in his usual role as an agitating checker, but was promoted to the top line with the Sedins 10 games ago. He has six goals and 11 points since, and 10 points in his last eight games.
By the end of the game, the sellout crowd of 18,630 was chanting Burrows’ name, not bad for a player who was never drafted, and worked his way up from the ECHL to the AHL before signing with Vancouver Canucks after the 2005-06 season started. He finished that year with seven goals and 12 points in 43 games and has been with the Vancouver Canucks ever since.
The Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo coughed up the puck behind his net to set up Fritsche’s goal 1:35 in, and was beaten through the legs by Zidlicky’s skipping point shot on a power play. But Luongo settled down with 17 saves for his 11th win in the last 12 starts and hasn’t given up more than two goals in six games.
The Minnesota Wild have dropped the first three games of a six-game road trip despite getting back top goal scorer Owen Nolan.