Luongo makes 23 saves, Canucks rout Coyotes 6-0
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Roberto Luongo made 23 saves for his 54th NHL shutout and third of the season, and the Vancouver Canucks routed the struggling Phoenix Coyotes 6-0 on Wednesday night.
Cody Hodgson scored his first career goal, Ryan Kesler added a pair to reach 30 for the season, and Alex Burrows, Jannik Hansen and Mason Raymond also scored for the Canucks, who have won four straight and have points in seven consecutive.
Vancouver (33-10-9) has the leagues best record for the first time since January 2004.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Coyotes, who have lost four of five, have allowed 11 straight goals since taking a 3-0 lead midway through the second period Tuesday at San Jose in a 5-3 loss.
Vancouver took advantage of sloppy passing by Phoenix to score against Ilya Bryzgalov.
The Canucks took a 1-0 lead 3:46 in when Daniel Sedin intercepted a clearing attempt by Scottie Upshall, turned toward the net, and fired a shot that was redirected in by Burrows, who was standing alone at the top of the crease.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Hansen made it 2-0 at 1:38 of the second when he skated in and wristed home a long rebound from between the bottom of the circles as both Coyotes defensemen stood watching.
Hodgson, playing in his second career game, recorded his first goal at 12:06 with a wrist shot from the right circle after he carried the puck the width of the ice.
The Canucks made it 4-0 at 6:41 of the third when Mikael Samuelsson stole a drop pass from Shane Doan and passed to a streaking Kesler for a 2-on-1 break with Mason Raymond. Kesler deked Adrian Aucoin to the ice in the circle and fired a wrist shot just under the crossbar.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Raymond scored at 11:37 and ended the night for Bryzgalov, who allowed five goals on 31 shots.
Kesler netted his 30th with an unassisted effort at 17:32.
Notes: Phoenix was without D Ed Jovanovski, who is day-to-day with an undisclosed upper body injury. Since the Coyotes beat the Canucks 3-2 in the teams' previous meeting on Nov. 21, Vancouver has gone 23-3-6. Phoenix D Keith Yandle's 10-game point streak ended.