Canucks' Lack earns 1st NHL shutout, tops Canes


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VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) - Eddie Lack made 31 saves in his first NHL shutout, and the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 2-0 on Monday night.

With No. 1 goalie Roberto Luongo getting the night off, the rookie earned his fourth win of the season in his first appearance at Rogers Arena.

Christopher Tanev and Jannik Hanzen, into an empty net, scored for Vancouver (18-10-5). Chris Higgins had two assists.

Justin Peters made 24 saves for Carolina (13-13-5), which had a three-game winning streak snapped.

After Tanev gave the Canucks a 1-0 lead in the first period, Lack was steady the rest of the way as Vancouver kept Carolina to the outside most of the game.

Lack made two glove saves early in the third period, the second coming on a hot shot off the stick of Hurricanes forward Nathan Gerbe.

Canucks forward Ryan Kesler had a chance to stretch Vancouver's lead a few moments later, but fired wide on a 2-on-1 break with Mike Santorelli.

Carolina made a push in the closing minutes, with captain Eric Staal coming the closest to scoring, but Lack shut the door before Hansen scored into an empty net.

Lack (4-2) usually plays the second game of back-to-backs in place of Luongo. He got the nod from coach John Tortorella with this game coming on the heels of Sunday's 3-1 home victory over the Colorado Avalanche.

The 25-year-old Lack's previous start came in the Canucks' 3-2 road victory over the Hurricanes on Dec. 1.

He was given a 1-0 lead early in the first period of the rematch.

Tanev took a pass from fellow defenseman Dan Hamhuis and fired a snap shot from the point that found its way through traffic past Peters at 3:35 for his second of the season.

The Hurricanes started to find their legs in the second period, but found it difficult to get much going against the tight-checking Canucks.

Tuomo Ruutu couldn't find the range against Lack from in tight midway through the period as Carolina's 27th-ranked power play sputtered.

Lack came up big later in the period off the rush, stopping both Riley Nash in the slot and the follow-up chance off the stick of Patrick Dwyer.

Former Canucks forward Manny Malhotra played in Vancouver for the first time with the Hurricanes. The Canucks shut Malhotra down after nine games last season, saying they were concerned for the 33-year-old forward's health following a serious eye injury during the 2010-11 season.

Malhotra got an American League Hockey tryout with Carolina's affiliate this season before being called up to the NHL. He made his debut on Nov. 1 against Tampa Bay.

NOTES: The Canucks don't play again until Friday when they will play Edmonton at home. Vancouver will then host Boston on Saturday. It will mark the Bruins' first visit to Vancouver since their victory in Game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup finals. ... Carolina will play at Edmonton on Tuesday.

(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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