Trevor Linden scored his first two goals of the season as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 6-3, spoiling the seasonal debut of Paul Kariya.
Linden's first goal, a power-play marker, gave Vancouver the lead for good at 3-2 with 7:22 left in the second period. He took a pass from Chris Joseph and blasted a slap shot past goaltender Mikhail Shtalenkov from the top of the left circle.
Vancouver improved to 11-5-2 all-time against Anaheim.
Kariya, who scored a franchise-record 50 goals last season, was held scoreless after missing the first 11 games with an inflammed abdominal muscle. Anaheim extended its franchise-record losing streak to eight games.
David Roberts scored his first goal of the season, extending Vancouver's lead to 4-2 at 5:15 of the third period. Roberts took a centering pass from Alexander Mogilny and put a one-timer through Shtalenkov's pads from the top of the crease.
Ex-Canuck Roman Oksiuta's third goal pulled the Mighty Ducks within 4-3 with 2:19 left in the third. Just as Anaheim's power play ended, Oksiuta grabbed a rebound in the low slot and flipped the puck over goalie Corey Hirsch.
Hirsch made 31 saves and improved to 2-1 in making his second straight start.
The Canucks regained their two-goal cushion on Linden's second goal with 67 seconds to go. Linden skated down the left wing and past center Jari Kurri before flipping a backhander over Shtalenkov's right shoulder. Russ Courtnall's empty-net goal closed the scoring with 19 seconds later.
Pavel Bure's fourth goal gave Vancouver a 1-0 edge with 9:37 left in the first period, but the Mighty Ducks tied the score 27 seconds later on Fredrik Olausson's second tally.
Mogilny scored his fourth goal to give Vancouver a 2-1 edge just 2:05 into the second. But they gave up the lead 6:20 later when Warren Rychel scored a shorthanded goal, his third.
Jon's 3 stars:
1. Trevor Linden
2. Pavel Bure
3. Warren Rychel
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