Canucks 4, Sabres 2
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- The night was meant to belong to Vancouver Canucks center Henrik Sedin, one of the best passers in hockey.
However, it was third-line right winger Zack Kassian who racked up four consecutive assists as Vancouver rebounded from an early 2-0 deficit to beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-2 Sunday night at Rogers Arena.
Pregame, the Canucks celebrated Sedin passing the 1,000-game mark earlier this month. All of his games were with Vancouver.
Kassian, 6-foot-3 and 214 pounds, used his size and skill to rack up his assists.
Kassian got his first helper by feeding left winger Brad Richardson in the slot. Richardson roofed the puck short side over the shoulder of Buffalo goalie Nathan Lieuwen to make it 2-1 Sabres at 10:12 of the first period.
Not three minutes later, Kassian found center Shawn Matthias at the far circle, and Matthias one-timed the puck past Lieuwen to draw the Canucks even at 2-2.
The shots at that point, 12:48 of the first period, were 14-5 in favor of the Canucks. Entering the game, the Sabres had the NHL's worst offense (1.86 goals a game), the Canucks the second-worst offense (2.32).
Defenseman Yannick Weber put the Canucks ahead 3-2 with a soft wrist shot that was more of a dump-in after taking a pass from Kassian. The shot fooled Lieuwen and slid between his pads at 1:40 of the second period to make it 3-2.
It wasn't what the rookie Buffalo goalie was hoping for in his second NHL start and playing in front of family and friends from his hometown, 45 minutes from downtown Vancouver.
Kassian's fourth assist set up left winger David Booth at 2:23 of the third. On that play, Kassian fought off the check of Buffalo center Cody Hodgson. The two are former first-round draft picks who were swapped for each other two summers ago, and Kassian is held up for comparison by fans and media against the popular Hodgson.
Prior to the game, the Canucks presented Henrik Sedin, their captain, with an engraved silver hockey stick, a check for $10,000 (Canadian) that he can donate to the charity of his choice, a portrait painted by a local artist and tickets for Sedin -- who raises race horses with his twin brother Daniel back in Sweden -- and his wife to attend the 303rd Royal Ascot races in England this summer.
However, Henrik Sedin limped off late in the second period after colliding with Buffalo center Tyler Ennis. It looked as if Sedin hurt his left ankle or knee.
Ennis put Buffalo up 1-0 at 1:11 of the first period on the Sabres' first shot, beating Vancouver goalie Eddie Lack short side from a tight angle on a two-on-one break.
Sabres defenseman Jamie McBain made it 2-0 at 3:29 of the first period on Buffalo's third shot of the game.
Lack, who started for the 13th consecutive game, made 16 saves. Nieuwen stopped 32 shots.
NOTES: Canucks LW Daniel Sedin returned to the lineup after missing nine games with a hamstring injury. However, his goal-less drought was extended to 23 games. ...Vancouver C Ryan Kesler also returned to the lineup after missing four games with a knee injury. ... Hard-luck Canucks LW Alex Burrows, who had just rediscovered his scoring touch (5-4-9 in his last six games), is out with a thumb injury. Burrows was slashed hard on the hand by Nashville D Shea Weber in the Canucks' previous outing after Vancouver had scored a goal and Burrows was lifting his hands to celebrate. He has missed 33 games due to injuries this season.
