New Canucks: Luongo stings Wings

Iain MacIntyre, Vancouver Sun

Who are these guys, and what have they done with the Vancouver Canucks? Sublime goaltending. Clinical special-teams execution. A calm and competent defence of a third-period lead. Winning 3-1 in Detroit against the Red Wings in the teams' National Hockey League opener. These aren't the Canucks we've come to know.

The Alain Vigneault-Roberto Luongo era began impressively here Thursday as the Canucks, who choked away leads last season as if they had a gag-reflex disorder, built a three-goal cushion on outstanding special teams, then safely ran out the clock in the third period against a team capable of winning the Stanley Cup.

It was a style of play -- and result -- to which the Canucks are unaccustomed.

"Last year we were a fragile team and didn't play with a lot of confidence," veteran defenceman Mattias Ohlund explained. "Roberto gives us confidence. Look, I loved to play in front of Dan [Cloutier] and Alex [Auld], too. But, having said that, Roberto is one of the absolutely top guys in this league. He's very calm in the net. He's one of those guys who gives his team a chance to win every night."

"I thought he was unreal," Canucks' captain Markus Naslund said. "He made some ridiculous saves. He just looks poised back there and it rubs off on others."

Luongo, acquired in June from the Florida Panthers in a deal that cleaved Todd Bertuzzi from the Canuck roster and caused a seismic shift in the Vancouver organization, looked like a $27-million-US -- over four years -- goalie in his debut.

He stopped 27 of 28 shots while aided by the heightened commitment to team defence instilled by new coach Vigneault.

This is the look of the new Canucks.

But there was also the best part of the old Canucks evident, too, as the franchise's all-time leading scorers -- Naslund and Trevor Linden -- scored goals 21/2 minutes and the first intermission apart to send Vancouver on its way.

"I think guys realize in this locker room we have a good team and we definitely can be part of the top eight [in the NHL]," Luongo said. "Defensively, I thought we did a great job. You've got to put your body on the line if you're going to protect a lead, and guys were diving in front of pucks."

The Canucks gave up nine shots in the third period, but only three scoring chances. They defended with four skaters across the neutral zone and plugged the passing and shooting lanes while shorthanded, which they were nine times.

"We kept them to the outside, and we only gave them three chances in the third," Vigneault, 1-0 lifetime as the Canucks' coach, told reporters. "We were up 3-1 and did what we had to do to come into a very tough environment and win our first game of the year."

The Canucks' second game of the year is tonight in Columbus.

Linden will be looking for his 301st goal as a Canuck, Naslund his 299th.

"Once Nazzy scored, I figured I better get going," Linden joked.

Naslund, who went goal-less in the pre-season, scored like Zinedine Zidane to give the Canucks a 1-0 lead with 4.5 seconds remaining in the first period -- one minute after Luongo made a stunning glove save in traffic on Henrik Zetterberg.