Dale Weise had the lone goal for Vancouver while Mike Fisher led Nashville with a goal and two assists.

Alex Burrows failed to get on the scoresheet in his 500th career game while Henrik Sedin remains third on the all-time franchise scoring list; three points back of Trevor Linden.

Canucks continue their road trip Thursday in Detroit versus the Red Wings; faceoff at 4:30pm on TEAM1040.

Game recap:

Canucks played a solid first period on the road outshooting the Predators 12-11 but failing to get one past Pekka Rinne.

Off to the second period and Mason Raymond came close to scoring for the Canucks. Raymond misses open net

Then it was Mike Fisher who opened the scoring on the power play. Fisher PP Goal-1-0 Preds

Francis Bouillon was called for tripping Aaron Rome but it was Nashville cashing in with a short-handed goal from Sergei Kostitsyn.  Kostitsyn SH Goal-2-0

Just over three minutes late Dale Weise cut the lead in half.  Weise Goal-2-1 Manny Malhotra picks up an assist; now on a three-game point streak. Maxim Lapierre had the other helper.

In the third period Roberto Luongo had to be sharp to keep it a one goal game. Luongo robs Weber on breakaway-2-1

Luongo then had some help from the goal post.  Preds hit post and Luongo save-2-1

With less than three minutes left in regulation David Legwand scored his 14th goal of the season. Legwand Goal-3-1 Mike Fisher got the assist;  his third point of the night.

Final Call- Predators 3 Nucks 1

Canucks remain two points back of the Red Wings in the Western Conference after Detroit lost to Chicago 2-1 in regulation.

Next up Vancouver faces the Red Wings in Detroit Thursday afternoon minus Pavel Datsyuk who underwent minor knee surgery Tuesday.

Wings have a record-breaking 23 game win streak going at the Joe Louis Arena.

Ben Walter led the way for the visitors with a pair of goals including the game’s first marker when he opened the scoring 4:52 into the first frame.

Akim Aliu – scoring against his former teammates – put the Heat up 2-0 heading to the first intermission.

The Rivermen answered back with a pair of even-strength goals of their own in the second period, knotting the game at two goals apiece after 40 minutes.

An unassisted goal for Walter in the third put the Heat up 3-2 before the Rivermen forced overtime by scoring with the goalie pulled and the extra attacker on the ice. Netminder Danny Taylor stopped two of four attempts against and Hugh Jessiman was the only Heat shooter to strike in the shootout.

Abbotsford now sits in seventh place in the Western Conference with 60 points, one behind Peoria and one up on San Antonio.

Alex Burrows plays the 500th game of his NHL career tonight. Burrows made his NHL debut on January 2, 2006 in St. Louis and scored his first NHL goal four games later (vs TOR).

Roberto Luongo returns to the net after watching Sunday’s 5-2 win in Edmonton from the bench. Pekke Rinne will start for the Preds. He is winless in three starts against Vancouver this season and was given the hook in the first two.

Kevin Bieksa, Sami Salo and Daniel Sedin all carry two-game goal scoring streaks into action tonight, while Bieksa, Burrows and Jannik Hansen are all riding three game point streaks.

The game features the top 2 power plays in the NHL: Vancouver leads the league at 22.3% and Nashville is at 21.5%.Five of the 15 goals the Canucks have scored against the Preds this season have come with the man-advantage.

Henrik Sedin set Vancouver on their way 53 seconds in as he found the back of Nikolai Khabibulin’s net with an assist from linemates Daniel Sedin and Alex Burrows.

The Canucks doubled their lead on the powerplay as Sami Salo’s 8th goal of the season sucked the life out of Rexall Place.

Manny Malholtra had a goal controversially disallowed for a ‘distinct kicking motion’ late in the 1st period which seemed to boost the Oilers for the start of the 2nd frame.

The Oilers came out with a new goaltender for the 2nd period as Devan Dubnyk replaced an ineffective Nikolai Khabibulin.

Shawn Horcoff drew the home team within one before a Kevin Bieksa slap shot restored the visitor’s 2-goal lead.

Chris Higgins extended Vancouver’s lead with less than 4 minutes remaining in the 2nd period.

The 3-goal lead seemed to relax the Canucks but only for a short amount of time as Edmonton’s Magnus Paajarvi put one past Corey Schneider to again draw the Oilers within two.

Daniel Sedin put the contest out of grasp for Edmonton 33 seconds in to the final frame, one timing a pass from Alex Burrows past Devan Dubnyk.

The Sedin-Sedin-Burrows line that always seems to come to life against Edmonton, combined for a total of 6 points on the night.

Vancouver improved their record in the Northwest Division to 14-3-1 with this, their 38th win of the season.

The Canucks continue their 6-game road trip Tuesday as they travel to Nashville to do battle with the Predators.

The Vancouver Giants finished up the week with a 3-1 loss to the Red Deer Rebels tonight at the Pacific Coliseum.

The Giants finished the week 3-1-0-1, picking up 7 of a possible 10 points.

Coming off a shootout loss in Kelowna Saturday night, the Rebels got the start they could only dream of, scoring 18 seconds into the game. They outshot the Giants 12-6 in the opening frame to lead 1-0.

In the second period the Giants fired 18 shots on net and finally Riley Kieser was able to get the equalizer, potting his 4th goal of the season to tie the game at 1-1. The Rebels would respond just over four minutes later as Tyson Ness beat Adam Morrison to give the visitors a 2-1 lead through 40 minutes. Shots were 24-23 in favour of Red Deer after 2 periods.

The Giants pushed in the third period, but just ran of the gas. Red Deer would add an empty netter to make it a 3-1 final. Final shots were 34-30 for Red Deer. With the loss and a Spokane win on Sunday, the Giants are now just 3 points up on the Chiefs for 4th place in the Western Conference. Spokane has 2 games in hand.

After a couple of days off the Giants are back in action Friday February 24 when they play host to the Kamloops Blazers. It is the front end of a home and home series with the top team in the WHL.

A first-half penalty from Davide Chiumiento and a second-half strike from Matt Watson earned the Blue and White the result in what was the first-ever match to be played between a Major League Soccer club and a CIS team. The Vikes scored their consolation goal through a second-half penalty from Craig Gorman in front of a crowd of 2,831 at UVic’s Centennial Stadium.

SCORING SUMMARY:
11’ – VAN – Davide Chiumiento (penalty kick)
52’ – VAN – Matt Watson (Greg Klazura)
67’ – UVIC – Craig Gorman (penalty kick)

CAUTIONS:
39’ – VAN – Jun Marques Davidson
65’ – VAN – Jun Marques Davidson

EJECTIONS:
65’ – VAN – Jun Marques Davidson

Vancouver Whitecaps FC
18.Brad Knighton; 39.Greg Klazura, 19.Carlyle Mitchell, 41.Suley Nuru, 3.Jordan Harvey; 28.Gershon Koffie (31.Russell Teibert 59’), 20.Davide Chiumiento (36.Bryce Alderson 70’), 27.Jun Marques Davidson, 16.Matt Watson (34.Caleb Clarke 85’); 22.Darren Mattocks (23.Long Tan 79′), 17.Omar Salgado (30.Bilal Duckett 70’)

Subs not used: 24.Callum Irving, 2.Michael Boxall

University of Victoria Vikes
29.Elliot Mitrou; 21.Gavin Barrett, 6.Toshi Hayashi (19.Alex Redpath 45’), 11.James Rhodes (10.Thomas Mallette 59’), 17.Andrew Ravenhill; 5.David Adams; 23.Cam Hundal, 16.Craig Taylor, 8.Joel Gomez (7.Wesley Barrett 45’), 27.Craig Gorman; 12.Kyle Kostis

Subs not used: 1.Michael Branion-Calles, 3.Spencer MacKinnon, 4.Colin Wilson, 14.Kurt Macaulay, 20.Connor Boag

Courtesy of WhitecapsFC.com

This marks the first time that a player has won back-to-back titles in San Jose since Andy Murray accomplished the feat in 2006 and 2007. Raonic contested the final against world no. 61 Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan who was the surprise of the tournament having upset Andy Roddick and Julien Benneteau to reach the championship match. Raonic ended Istomin’s Cinderella run with a 7-6(3), 6-2 victory in just under 80 minutes. The 21-year-old lost just four points on serve in the entire match. He becomes the first player on the ATP World Tour to win two titles in 2012. Raonic now boasts an impressive 11-1 record this season.

Raonic was able to defend his title at San Jose despite being unable to play his final singles match at the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas first-round match-up against France the previous weekend. What was originally thought by doctors to be a 4 millimetre tear in Raonic’s left knee following an ultrasound in Vancouver, turned out to be nothing serious once the swelling faded. He was re-examined upon his arrival in Stanford and the MRI results thankfully allowed doctors to give the star player the green light to return to the court after just a few days rest.

Raonic will now head to Memphis where he lost a hotly contested final to Andy Roddick in 2011. He will play Ernests Gulbis of Latvia in the first round on Wednesday night.

 A graduate of Vancouver College and a standout at the University of British Columbia, the left-handed quarterback and defensive back had a brief stint with the B.C. Lions of the CFL in 1956. In 1960, he returned to Vancouver College and taking over the reins as head coach in 1960–61 and led the Fighting Irish to their only undefeated season.

 “Cal was an outstanding coaching mind and a wonderful person,” said Lions VP of football operations and GM Wally Buono. “He was a man that meant so much to the development of our league and its players. He will be greatly missed by all, but his contributions will remain with us for many years to come.”

 Following a number of successful coaching roles in US colleges, Murphy joined the staff of the BC Lions in 1974 as an assistant under head coach Eagle Keys. He was named head coach partway through the 1975 season, a position he would hold through the 1976 campaign.

 Murphy would go on to be part of nine Grey Cup championship teams in Montreal and Edmonton as an assistant and in Winnipeg where he served for 14 seasons including eight as head coach. He earned the Annis Stukus Trophy as CFL Coach of the Year in 1983, 1984 and was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2004.

 For his contribution to football in the province of British Columbia, he was given the Lifetime Achievement Award by the BC Lions Football Club in 2010 during its annual Orange Helmet Awards.

Daniel Sedin led the Canucks with a goal and three assists while Henrik Sedin picked up a game-high four helpers. Alex Burrows scored his 21st and 22nd of the season; Sami Salo, Kevin Bieksa and Manny Malhotra had the other goals for Vancouver.

Roberto Luongo made 24 saves for his 25th victory of the season while James Reimer was chased after allowing four goals on 18 shots; Jonas Gustavsson gave up two goals on 18 shots in relief.

Game recap:

For the 39th time this season the Vancouver Canucks opened the scoring with a goal from Alex Burrows. VAN TOR – Burrows goal 1-0 VAN Daniel Sedin picks up the assist on Burrows 21st of the season.

Just over a minute later Manny Malhotra scored, diving for the puck after a great pass from Maxim Lapierre. VAN TOR – Malhotra diving goal 2-0 VAN  Byron Bitz with the second assist as the Canucks extend their lead 2-0.

Shots were 11-4 Vancouver at the end of the first period.

It didn’t take long for Burrows to get his second of the night early in the second period. VAN TOR – Burrows goal (2) 3-0 VAN Daniel and Henrik with the helpers; Henrik snapped a three-game pointless streak.

Three minutes later Dion Phaneuf got the Maple Leafs on the board on a delayed penalty. VAN TOR – Phaneuf goal 3-1 VAN

Luongo had to come up big to keep it a two-goal game for Vancouver. VAN TOR – Luongo denies Lupul 3-1 VAN

Just over midway through the second Clarke MacArthur coughed up the puck at the Toronto blueline and the Sedins made him pay. VAN TOR – D. Sedin goal 4-1 VAN

That was it for  James Reimer after allowing four goals on 18 shots; Jonas Gustavsson came in in relief.

Canucks got their first power play and it was Sami Salo with a blast from the point. VAN TOR – Salo goal (PP) 5-1 VAN  That was just the second shot on Gustavsson. Henrik and Daniel with the assists.

To the third period and Kevin Bieksa added to the Canucks lead. VAN TOR – Bieksa goal 6-1 VAN

Nikolai Kulemin scored with 19.2 seconds left to make it 6-2 but it was too little too late. Final score 6-2 Vancouver to improve to 9-0-2 in their last 11 games.

Canucks hit the road for six games; first stop Edmonton Sunday night. TEAM1040pre-game show begins at 4pm; faceoff at 6pm.

The Vancouver Giants won their third straight game, defeating the Edmonton Oil Kings 6-2 Friday night at the Pacific Coliseum.

Cain Franson had a goal and an assist on a night in which his older brother Cody was added to the Giants ‘Ring of Honour’.

With the win the Giants officially secured a spot in the playoffs.

Playing 4-on-4 hockey midway through the first period, Brendan Gallagher opened the scoring with his 35th goal of the year. Same situation five minutes later, this time it was Cain Franson ripping home his 24th goal of the season to put the Giants in front 2-0 after 20 minutes.

The Oil Kings would respond in the second period with a pair of goals on the power play to a make it 2-2. Edmonton had an opportunity to take the lead, by Adam Morrison stopped Jordan Peddle on a breakaway to keep the game tied at 2-2. The Giants eventually regained their advantage with just under four mintues remaining in the frame as Matt Bellerive took a great feed from Austin Vetterl, scoring his 4th goal of the year and putting the home side up 3-2 through 40 minutes.

Edmonton pressed in the third period, but it would be Jordan Martinook scoring the back breaker, beating Laurent Brossoit for his 31st goal of the year, giving the Giants a 4-2 lead. Jackson Houck scored 44 seconds later, coverting a nice pass from Franson to extend the lead to three goals. That would spell the end for Brossoit, who allowed 5 goals on 32 shots. He was replaced by Tristan Jarry. Martinook would add one more goal to make it a 6-2 final. Final shots were 34-28 in favour of the Giants. Vancouver went 0-for-3 on the power play, while the Oil Kings finished 2-for-4. The Giants won all 3 meetings with the Oil Kings this year and improved to 10-1-0-0 all-time.

With the win and a Spokane loss, the Giants moved four points up on the Chiefs for 4th place in the Western Conference. The victory earned the Giants a playoff berth for a 10th straight season.

The Giants are back in action tomorrow night in Everett for the sixth and final meeting of the season vs. the Silvertips.