Now that the search party has found goaltender Roberto Luongo, the Vancouver Canucks may be set to give the hot Detroit Red Wings a run for their American money on Sunday night.

Luongo, normally the key to any success for the Canucks, had been off to a poor start this season, so much so that some fans must have been wondering who the imposter was in the crease.

Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo was solid in this win over Washington on Friday, raising hopes he’s back on form after a rough start.
(Haraz N. Ghanbari/Associated Press)

But Friday night at Washington, the last of a four-game road swing, Luongo made 26 saves, won 3-2 to personally improve to 4-6 on the season and robbed Michael Nylander in the dying seconds to preserve the victory.

“We never make it easy for ourselves,” Luongo said afterward. “But this one feels good.

“I think we needed it, and it feels good to end the road trip on the right foot.”

Whichever skate it might have been, starting to build some momentum off an overall 5-6 start is called for, though having to get by Detroit to do it won’t be an easy task.

The Wings, starting a three-game road swing that also takes the club through Edmonton and Calgary, are showing flashes of their past brilliance thanks to an 8-2-1 start, four straight victories and a flashy offence that sits third overall behind Carolina and Toronto.

That attack is powered by Henrik Zetterberg, whose 20 points (including nine goals, two in the most recent win over San Jose) leads the National Hockey League. Tomas Holmstrom is next on the club with 13 points.

Daniel Sedin leads Vancouver with 11 points, but the real story isn’t how many pucks are going in for the Canucks, but how many are going toward the net. In last Wednesday’s 3-2 loss to the Wings at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, the Canucks took just 15 shots.

“I don’t know what it is, but I think we’ve been trying too hard to look for fancy plays instead of shooting and go hard at the rebounds,” said Sami Salo, Vancouver’s stalwart defender who returned this past week after missing the season so far with a broken hand.

Home cooking may not be a factor in Sunday’s game. 

The Canucks are a solid 4-2 on the road but a worrisome 1-4 on their own ice. Detroit is 3-1-0-1 away from the Motor City.

Still, a win here by Vancouver and the club goes to 6-6, and that’s enough for a share of eighth. Given the early season struggles, that would be fairly acceptable.

With files from the Associated PressContinue Article

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Tags: Luongo, Canucks, red-hot, Wings

Posted on October 28th, 2007 by Klaus Roe
Filed under: Motorsport