Canucks bury Stars with powerplay goal

Daniel Sedin, set up by his twin brother Henrik, scored a third-period powerplay goal to give the Vancouver Canucks a 3-1 win at Dallas.

Daniel Sedin scored a third-period powerplay goal to give the Vancouver Canucks a 3-1 win over the Dallas Stars on Saturday. Sedin, who was set up by his twin brother Henrik, saw his shot deflect off the Stars defenceman Trevor Daley's skate and into the net. Alexandre Burrows added an empty netter with 17 seconds to play as Vancouver won for the ninth time in 12 games. Canucks netminder Roberto Luongo had 31 saves, including a clutch stop with his right pad off Mike Modano's one-timer with six minutes left.

"I actually didn't see him and it was kind of a desperation play by me there," Luongo said. "I didn't even see the shot go off or the puck, I just put my leg out there and was able to get my skate on it, actually. "It was just a reaction and fortunately, I got a piece of it." Ryan Kesler scored the Canucks' opener while Loui Eriksson netted for Dallas. The New York Islanders, meanwhile, made a mockery of their status as the NHL's lowest-scoring offence with a 6-5 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers.

The Thrashers twice came back from three-goal deficits in regulation, but Jeff Tambellini and Frans Nielsen scored shoot-out goals for the Islanders to give them victory. "It shows a lot about our character," Islanders forward Josh Bailey said. "We managed to bounce back and find a way to win. It's tough to keep that pressure and keep going but we were able to get the two points." The St Louis Blues' first game since firing head coach Andy Murray ended in familiar fashion, Tomas Kopecky and Patrick Sharp both scoring twice as the Chicago Blackhawks eased to a 6-3 victory.

"There's no excuses for some of the mistakes we made and the odd-man rushes we gave them," Blues forward David Backes said. "As much as six goals against hurts, they could have had a few more." * With agencies