Canucks end road trip with a loss to the Jets

WINNIPEG, MB (NEWS1130) – Alex Burrows scored twice and Daniel Sedin had a goal and two assists, but the Vancouver Canucks fell short as they dropped a 5-4 decision to the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday afternoon. The Canucks had a 2-2-0 record on their final road trip of the season.

The Jets got off to a quick start in front of their home fans as goals from Jim Slater and Michael Frolik just 50 seconds apart made it 2-0 at the 5:24 mark of the first period.

Vancouver got its legs going and got on the board on the powerplay just shy of the midway mark in the opening period, as Henrik Sedin controlled a rebound off the end boards to slide one in past Ondrej Pavelec for his 18th goal of the season.

The Canucks then tied it 2-2 with Radim Vrbata setting up Daniel Sedin for his 17th goal of the season, however, Lee Stempniak gave Winnipeg the lead back only 36 seconds later, and the Jets took a 3-2 advantage into the second period.

There were no goals in the middle period until the final minute. With 56 seconds to play, Mark Scheifele had a shot find a way through Eddie Lack to make it 4-2 for the Jets. The Canucks responded just eight seconds later though, as Daniel sent Burrows in alone for his first goal of the day.

Winnipeg restored its two-goal cushion 9:36 into the third period, as Stempniak slid one through the pads of Lack for his second goal of the day.

With Lack on the bench for the extra attacker, Burrows finished off a beautiful pass from Henrik to cut the deficit to one goal, and then with Lack on the bench again, Chris Higgins had a chance to tie it, but hit the post.

Lack made 31 saves in the loss, while Pavelec got the win with a 26-save effort.

Sven Baertschi played 10:16 in his Canucks debut, registering one shot on goal with four penalty minutes.

The Canucks will now return home for their final three games of the season. They host Los Angeles on Monday, Arizona on Thursday, and then finish the season against the Oilers next Saturday.