Luongo wins goalie battle
NEW YORK — Henrik Lundqvist's matchup against Roberto Luongo was hard enough. Trying to beat the NHL's hottest goalie without any help from his teammates was way too much to ask.
Lundqvist allowed five goals on 17 shots to Vancouver before the second period was 6 minutes old, and the Canucks held on for a 6-3 victory over the New York Rangers on Wednesday night.
All it took was eye contact with coach Tom Renney and a simple summoning with a finger to get Lundqvist to quickly skate off to the comfort of the bench.
"I looked at Tom and he gave me the sign," Lundqvist said. "It was a good call. It was a game where I had to be really sharp. There were a lot of situations where we got left alone out there."
Luongo uncharacteristically allowed three goals, but finished with a season-high 39 saves in the victory.
What was expected to be a duel between Luongo and Lundqvist — the two favorites for this season's Vezina Trophy — turned out to be an offensive show. The Rangers helped Vancouver score its first four goals by turning over the puck. The fifth tally came with the Canucks on a 5-on-3 advantage and ended Lundqvist's night.
"We did a couple mistakes that led to the goals, but at the same time I have to stop them. That's my job," Lundqvist said.
New York got within 5-3 during a spirited third period, but it was too late for a big comeback.
Alex Burrows scored two of Vancouver's five goals against Lundqvist, who was gone 5:33 into the second period.
Capitals 6, Ducks 4
At Anaheim, Calif., Alex Ovechkin extended his goal streak to five games and added three assists for visiting Washington.
The reigning NHL MVP had a power-play goal, and Tomas Fleischmann and Mike Green scored less than two minutes apart early in the first period with the man advantage.
Nicklas Backstrom, Matt Bradley and David Steckel also scored and Michael Nylander had two assists for the Capitals, who won for the sixth time in seven games.
Bobby Ryan scored his first two goals of the season and assisted on another for the Ducks.
Bruins 7, Sabres 4
At Boston, Zdeno Chara and Chuck Kobasew each scored two goals, and Marc Savard had a goal and three assists against Buffalo.
The Bruins won their sixth straight at home and for the seventh time in eight games.
After falling behind 4-2 with 7:23 remaining in the first period, the Bruins scored five unanswered goals. Savard figured in on four, giving him 600 NHL points.
Buffalo has dropped three straight and four of five. Ryan Miller allowed seven goals on 20 shots.
