HARTFORD, Conn. -- Alexander Mogilny had two goals and three assists and linemate Mike Ridley added two goals and two assists Wednesday night, leading the Vancouver Canucks to their fourth win in five games, 6-2 over the Hartford Whalers.
Corey Hirsch made 41 saves for the Canucks, who improved to 1-1 on their six-game road trip.
"The guys that had to score did at the end," said Vancouver coach Tom Renney. "We had a real good team meeting this morning and it carried over to the game tonight with the effort."
Mogilny picked up all but one assist in a four-goal third period that broke open a tight game. He set up Ridley's second goal of the game at 11:48 to extend Vancouver's lead to 3-1. Goaltender Sean Burke stopped Mogilny's shot from the slot, but Ridley put home the rebound for his eighth of the season and fourth in three games.
Mogilny scored his 11th of the season just 78 seconds later to make it 4-1 before Geoff Sanderson's short-handed goal at 14:28 halted the Canucks' run of four straight goals.
But Mogilny beat Burke again 88 seconds later, giving him five goals in his last four road games. Mogilny and Ridley earned assists on Esa Tikkanen's goal that closed the scoring with 99 seconds remaining.
"I used my instincts tonight," Mogilny said. "I said to myself, 'Every time I get a chance, I'm going.' I don't care if I don't score, I have to play my type of game. Our goalie played an exceptional game. We did not have many good shots, but they were just going in for us tonight."
Kevin Dineen had the other goal for Hartford, which is winless in its last three games (0-2-1) after a five-game unbeaten streak. The loss snapped the Whalers three-game winning streak against Vancouver.
The win was Vancouver's first over the Whalers since Dec. 8, 1993.
"We cannot afford to lose our composure like we did in the third period," said Hartford coach Paul Maurice. "At 4-2, we are still in the game. We had some great chances to score that did not go in. You have to live with it and we didn't."
Dineen had the only goal of the first period to stake the Whalers to a 1-0 lead, but Vancouver tied it at 9:29 of the second on former Montreal Canadien Donald Brashear's first goal since Feb. 20, 1995, and first as a Canuck. Mike Sillinger slid the puck to Brashear cutting down the slot and he put a deke on Burke before sliding in a backhander.
Ridley put the Canucks ahead to stay just over three minutes later when he converted a rebound of Dave Babych's drive from the left faceoff circle.
"We lost our discipline," Dineen said. "Instead of reacting on the ice, we threw tantrums and panicked. Tonight was quite a learning experience for all of us."
Burke agreed.
"We were in this game for two periods. When you are trying to create, you're going to give up chances. We just lost our composure and fell apart," he said.
Jon's 3 stars:
1. Alexander Mogilny
2. Mike Ridley
3. Corey Hirsch
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