Game Recap

VANCOUVER 5, DALLAS 4 VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) - The Vancouver Canucks are becoming a team of interchangeable parts. Coach Marc Crawford stuck with juggled line combinations for the second successive game and his club responded with another solid effort in a 5-4 victory Wednesday night over the Dallas Stars. "We've been mixing and matching the last few games and it seems to be working the last couple," said Denis Pederson, who scored the game-winner at 14:46 of the third period. "We've got five goals each game and each line is contributing, which is nice to see. One of our attributes all year is to get all four lines rolling and when we don't have that it's tough for us to win. "We were getting zero, one, two goals a game, but when everyone's contributing it makes for a better atmosphere." The result enabled the Canucks to close within one point of the fifth-place Stars in the Western Conference. Pederson's goal, set up by an aggressive forecheck by Matt Cooke, was his first in 23 games. Peter Schaefer, playing with Andrew Cassels and Todd Bertuzzi, scored his first goal in 19 games. Cassels and Bertuzzi used to play on the first line with Markus Naslund, but that didn't stop the Canucks captain from getting his career-high 37th goal to open the scoring. Ed Jovanovski broke a 3-3 tie midway through the third period while Daniel Sedin got the other Vancouver goal. Jamie Langenbrunner, Sergei Zubov, Grant Marshall and Mike Modano, with his 22nd goal with 14 seconds left in regulation, scored for Dallas. Pederson said the key to Vancouver's success was pressuring the Dallas defensemen and that's how Cooke created the turnover on the end boards that led to the winning goal. "Matt just went in there and worked hard and found me in the slot and I kind of snuck it through," Pederson said. Modano said Dallas needed a jump from its usually effective power play. The Stars didn't get it against the Canucks and they lost their third in a row on the road. Dallas missed a chance to take over the Pacific Division lead from San Jose, which lost in Toronto. "Our power play wasn't effective and it's something that usually gets us going on the road," Modano said. Joe Nieuwendyk, third among Dallas scorers with 45 points, was helped off the ice with a groin injury and limped noticeably as he made his way to the Dallas dressing room. He will be re-evaluated Thursday morning. VANCOUVER CANUCKS 5, Dallas Stars 4 1ST 2ND 3RD FINAL --- --- --- ----- Dallas 1 1 2 4 Vancouver 1 2 2 5 FIRST PERIOD - SCORING: 1, Vancouver, Naslund 37 (Ohlund, Bertuzzi), 2:24 (pp). 2, Dallas, Langenbrunner 8 (Van Allen), 19:24. PENALTIES: Dallas bench, served by Marshall (too many men), :19; Hatcher, Dal (high-sticking), 1:20; Brashear, Van (interference), 6:41; Bertuzzi, Van (closing hand on puck), 9:21; Cooke, Van (hooking), 13:37. SECOND PERIOD - SCORING: 3, Vanouver, D.Sedin 17 (H.Sedin, Ohlund), 9:54. 4, Dallas, Zubov 9 (MacLean, Keane), 12:18. 5, Vancouver, Schaefer 13 (Cassels), 19:44. PENALTIES: Lukowich, Dal (tripping), 7:25; Naslund, Van (holding), 16:07. THIRD PERIOD - SCORING: 6, Dallas, Marshall 8 (Lukowich, Hogue), 10:39. 7, Vancouver, Jovanovski 9 (Klatt, D.Sedin), 11:30. 8, Vancouver, Pederson 4 (Cooke), 14:46. 9, Dallas, Modano 22 (Hull, Sydor), 19:46. PENALTY: Keane, Dal (interference), 16:21. SHOTS ON GOAL 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL --- --- --- ----- Dallas 8 6 8 22 Vancouver 5 7 13 25 POWER PLAY: Dallas 0 of 4; Vancouver 1 of 4. GOALIES: Dallas, Belfour 26-18-5 (25 shots-20 saves). Vancouver, Cloutier 6-15-3 (22-18). Referees: Paul Devorski, Kevin Pollock. Linesmen: Darren Gibbs, Brad Lazarowich. A: 18,103 (18,422).