Off Topic » Eastern Conference leading 52 points on the road

The Vancouver Canucks ended a lengthy losing streak in their first appearance after the Olympics. Theyll shoot for another positive result when they host the Minnesota Wild in tonights clash at Rogers Arena. The Canucks went into the NHLs Olympic break mired in an 0-7-0 slump, but halted that slide with Wednesdays 1-0 win over the visiting St. Louis Blues. It had been Vancouvers longest stretch of regulation losses since the 1998-99 season, but goaltender Eddie Lack helped snap the skid with a 20-save shutout performance. "Lack was outstanding," Vancouver head coach John Tortorella said of his rookie goaltender. "Key saves at key times. He calms this team down." Jannik Hansen provided the offense needed for Vancouvers recent win, scoring the games only goal late in the third period. After outshooting St. Louis 28-17 over the first 40 minutes, Vancouver finally broke the scoreless deadlock late in the third when Tom Sestito picked up the puck along the right midboards in his own zone and backhanded a beautiful outlet pass to Hansen. Hansen corralled the disc near the red line and split two defenders near the blue line before skating into the inner half of the right circle and rifling a wrister under the right arm of Jaroslav Halak to make it 1-0 at the 11:13 mark. The Canucks played Wednesdays game without forward Ryan Kesler, who is dealing with a bruised right hand. The American Olympian has been the subject of trade rumours ahead of next weeks deadline and returns to the lineup for tonights tilt. Despite the win on Wednesday, Vancouver was knocked out of a playoff position while idle on Thursday as Dallas moved into the eighth spot in the West with a win over Carolina. The Canucks are tied with Phoenix and one point back of the Stars. Lack will get another start tonight while Roberto Luongo sits this one out. Luongo won his second gold medal with Team Canada in Sochi after playing a backup role to Carey Price. Tonights test marks the final test for Vancouver before hosting Ottawa in Sundays outdoor battle at BC Place. The Wild posted a third straight win when they came back from the break to post Thursdays 3-0 victory in Edmonton. Darcy Kuemper made 21 saves for his second shutout of the season to anchor the win. Mikael Granlund, Stephane Veilleux and Dany Heatley scored for the Wild, who will aim for their first four-game winning streak since Jan. 2-9. "I thought that our guys had a real good focus on defending tonight and doing it the right way," Minnesota head coach Mike Yeo said. Kuemper is expected to get the start again tonight. Niklas Backstrom is dealing with an abdominal problem at the moment, but he was able to dress as the backup on Thursday. The Wild, who are seventh in the West and six points ahead of the Canucks, are completing a two-game road trip tonight. Minnesota is 11-14-5 as the away team this season. Minnesota beat the a visiting Canucks team 3-2 in a shootout on Dec. 17, giving the Wild wins in three straight and four of the last six meetings in this series. Vancouver, however, has dominated the Wild in B.C. in recent seasons, winning 11 straight at Rogers Arena in this series before Minnesota halted that streak with a 3-1 win on March 18 of last season. Gary Roberts Jersey . Hes the same player he always was, only now his efforts are being rewarded. The rookie manager has made a habit of heaping praise on others when things are going well, and accepting criticism when they arent. But in the case of Hurtado, its what the coach is NOT saying that may be the secret to a superb run of form. Johnny Gaudreau Jersey .C. -- Duke sophomore Rodney Hood is entering the NBA draft. http://www.jerseyofficialhockeyflames.com/ . The outdoor event will be played on Dec. 31 between alumni of the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers at Citizens Bank Park, the home of the Philadelphia Phillies. Jarome Iginla Jersey .ca presents its latest weekly power rankings for the 2013-14 Barclays Premier League season. Theoren Fleury Jersey . Scolari says that although Brazilians have the right to complain about the government and demand improvements, perhaps the protests wont be coming at the "right time.MONTREAL - A Carey Price shutout and a game-winning goal on a penalty shot made for an uplifting end to the Montreal Canadiens regular season. Captain Brian Gionta, who was handed the Jacques Beauchamp trophy as the teams unsung hero before the game, scored on a penalty shot 2:04 into overtime to give the Canadiens a 1-0 victory over the New York Rangers on Saturday night. Price made 41 saves for his sixth shutout of the season, and the Canadiens (46-28-8) ended the campaign with an even 100 points. "Were definitely proud of our season," said Price. "We put lot of effort in all year long. "We stayed fairly consistent all year. And now the fun begins." The Canadiens will face Tampa Bay in the first round of playoff. They moved one point past the Lightning for second place in the Atlantic Division. However, Tampa Bay can still claim home ice advantage with a victory on their final game Sunday afternoon against Washington. Price and his teammates expect to watch the game, but wont be upset if the Lightning win or lose. "I think were pretty comfortable no matter where were playing," said Price. "Obviously, wed like to play here in front of our home crowd, but were comfortable playing in any rink." The Rangers (45-32-5) knew before the game they will have home ice for their first round series against the rival Philadelphia Flyers. They rested some veterans, including Martin St. Louis, but still had the better of the play for two periods as they outshot Montreal 39-25 in regulation time and 41-27 overall. "We didnt mail it in," said New Yorks Brad Richards. "We could have won the game. But to be honest with you, were going to turn this page. Were excited to get this week going." Despite the OT defeat, New York ended the year with an Eastern Conference leading 52 points on the road. It was a goaltending battle between Price and Cam Talbot, who had shut out Montreal in his first meeting with the Canadiens in November. "Our goaltender gave us a chance," said Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault. "This game didnt mean anything for us at the end of the day, but we talked about coming here and playing well. "Thats what I thought we did tonight." The decisive moment came in overtime, as Gionta poked the puck past former Canadien Raphael Diaz at the blue-line, then was tripped by the defencemen as he tried to get free for a breakaway. Gionta deked to the backhand to beat Talbot on the penalty shot. "Its something I go to a lot on penalty shots or shootouts," said Gionta.dddddddddddd "Hes a good young goalie. He holds his ground well. He played well against us." Coach Michel Therrien was beaming after the game. "It doesnt happen often that your regular season ends on a penalty shot," he said. "Giontas our captain, our leader, our unsung hero. It couldnt finish on a better note." The Canadiens will get back together on Monday to begin preparing for the playoffs, where they hope to redeem themselves after a first-round exit last spring at the hands of the Ottawa Senators. An area of concern is the power play, which went 0-for-23 over the last eight games. While Giontas was their only goal in the final two games, they finished the season on an 11-3-1 run. The Rangers owned the scoreless opening period, building a 10-2 shot advantage by the 10-minute mark, but couldnt get one past Price. The Canadiens only woke up somewhat in the second, but Price needed to be even better to keep the Rangers from scoring. He got help from his posts as Derek Dorsett hit one after Price played the puck up the middle, and Diaz hit both posts with a blast off a rush down the right side. "For the most part, we kept their shots to the outside and didnt allow second and third rebounds," said Price. "We pride ourselves on blocking shots and teams, at this point of the season, are just throwing everything at the net. "Shots on goal arent necessarily a reflection of scoring chances." The Canadiens got two injury scares, as David Desharnais went flying from a Dorsett knee in the first period and Brendan Gallagher came up limping from an open ice collision with Dan Carcillo. Both players finished the game. "They play hard — I dont think either of those were on purpose," said Gallagher. In the third, Montreals Francis Bouillon got two minutes for kneeing Mats Zuccarello, but the player known as The Hobbit was not hurt. The last time the Rangers lost a game on an overtime penalty shot was Dec. 5, 2002, when the Flyers Michal Handzus scored in Philadelphia for a 3-2 win. Notes — Lars Eller missed a third game with a flu for Montreal, while Douglas Murray, Jarred Tinordi and George Parros sat out. Forward Michael Blunden was returned to AHL Hamilton after the game. . . New York rested veterans St. Louis and Ryan McDonagh. Dan Girardi, Chris Kreider and Ryan Haggerty were also out of the lineup. ' ' '