Mike Fountain recorded a shutout in his NHL debut and Alexander Mogilny scored twice as the Vancouver Canucks notched a 3-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils, who had their five-game winning streak snapped.
The 24-year-old Fountain was recalled Wednesday from Syracuse of the American Hockey League to replace the injured Kirk McLean. He made 40 saves, including 31 over the final two periods, as the Canucks shut out New Jersey for just the second time in team history. McLean had the other one on October 19th, 1988.
Fountain was tested only twice in the third period, making a right skate save on Mike Peluso's rebound attempt with just under 17 minutes remaining and a right pad stop on John MacLean's shot through traffic with about a minute to go.
He won a battle of rookie goaltenders as Mike Dunham stopped 19 shots for the Devils in his second NHL start.
Vancouver, playing its third game in four nights, has won four of its last five on the road and six of eight overall.
Mogilny, who leads Vancouver with nine goals, tallied twice in a 3:31 span late in the second period to break a scoreless tie. Dunham went down to make a stick save on Mike Ridley's wrist shot from the slot, but Mogilny flipped the rebound over the fallen goalie at 14:04.
On their next shift, Mogilny, Ridley and linemate Scott Walker did a solid forechecking job to keep the puck in the New Jersey zone and Mogilny made it pay off at 17:35 when he grabbed a loose puck at the side of the net and banked in a shot off Dunham's left leg.
Mogilny has four goals in his last four games and five in his last four on the road. Ridley and Walker picked up assists on both tallies.
Former Devil Alexander Semak scored into an empty net with 26 seconds left to seal the victory.
Until Mogilny's first goal, there was nothing on the scoresheet. Referee Paul Devorski did not call a penalty until Vancouver's Trevor Linden was whistled for interference at 15:03 of the second period.
The Devils got their first good scoring chance with about 17 minutes to go in the second period. Bill Guerin came down the right wing and sent Steve Thomas in alone with a behind-the-back pass. But Thomas had trouble controlling the puck in the low slot and sent a shot wide of the right goal post.
Just over a minute later, Sergei Brylin broke in 2-on-1 with Guerin, but also fired a wrist shot wide of the net.
The Thomas-Brylin-Guerin line had another opportunity with 8:20 to go in the second period, but Fountain scooped Thomas' 10-foot wrister from the left wing.
An uneventful first period was highlighted by Bill Guerin's open-ice check which flattened Canucks star Pavel Bure at his own blue line with just over two minutes left. The loss also broke New Jersey's three-game home winning streak. The Devils have dropped their last two at home to Vancouver after the Canucks went six years without a win at New Jersey.
Jon's 3 stars:
1. Mike Fountain
2. Scott Walker
3. Alexander Mogilny
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