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Alex Burrows scores two goals in 17 seconds as Canucks defeat Flyers 4-1

After an injury to Zack Kassian in yesterday's practice, Burrows reunited with the Sedins in a big way.

By Sean Larson
Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports

With Zack Kassian out after suffering an injury during yesterday's practice, Alex Burrows moved in on the Sedin line. That proved to be a move that paid out handsomely for the Canucks on Tuesday night.

Burrows scored two goals in 17 seconds as Vancouver defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 at Rogers Arena, making us all proud on Pat Quinn Night at the arena, which included another fantastic pregame ceremony honoring The Big Irishman on St. Patrick's Day, of course.

Alex Edler scored first for the Canucks (40-25-4) to tie the game in the second period, while Radim Vrbata put the finishing touches on the win with an empty net goal in the final seconds of the third.

With the game tied 1-1 in the third period, Burrows took a feed from Daniel Sedin for the go-ahead goal at 6:44, his first in 11 games. But the best part of the goal came when Burrows and Daniel tripped over Nick Shultz, sparking this hilarious celly fail.

Side note: Yes, I am aware this is the Flyers broadcast team. For some reason, Comcast Sportsnet Northwest punished me here in Seattle and deprived me of Garrett and Shorty.

17 seconds later, Burrows struck again, this time on the rebound. Unlike the first time around, his celly was straight fire for this goal.

Vancouver reached the 40-win mark on the year with 13 games to go. In case we needed a reminder, the Canucks had 36 wins all of last season. While reaching 50 wins might be a stretch, it's not out of the question. Last year, reaching 50 wins quickly became a laughable fantasy. If the Canucks win eight of their final 13 games, they will hit the 100-point mark for the season. Last year, Vancouver finished the year with just 83 points.

The Flyers (29-28-15) had opened the scoring at 10:42 when Michael Raffl positioned himself in the slot to redirect a shot past Lack for his 17th goal of the year. But that would be the only time Philadelphia beat Lack on the night.

Vancouver tied the game at 14:28 with a nifty backhanded goal from Alex Edler. After the Canucks came up turnover in Philadelphia's zone, Edler handled a puck that deflected off the skate of Derek Dorsett in front of the crease and put it home for his sixth goal of the year.

The goal also ended a two month scoring drought for Edler.

Eddie Lack turned in another big performance, making 27 saves on the night. But thanks to Burrows turning into a scoring machine, Lack had to settle for being the third star. What a slacker...

Chris Mason started strong for the Flyers, stopping a number of early scoring chances, but Burrows proved to be too much during the third period. Mason stopped 31 shots on the night.

Midway through the second period, Jakub Voracek and Dan Hamhuis dropped the gloves for an energetic fight, sparking both teams and the fans.

After a poor start defensively with several turnovers in the Vancouver zone in the first period, the Flyers had a pair of good scoring chances in the slot from Carlo Colaiacovo. On the first chance, Lack was bailed out by the post before coming up with a big save on the second chance.

Moments before Colaiacovo's second chance at Lack from the slot, Voracek also had a near-goal with a wraparound chance, but Lack was able to get his leg kicked out to stop the shot. Some even thought it was a lucky save, which pretty much describes Eddie in a nutshell sometimes.

Early in the second period, Vancouver's beloved fourth line had an impressive shift, during which they had several scoring chances on net against Mason. The Canucks controlled the puck in Philadelphia's zone, moving it around to set up open looks, including a shot from Jannik Hansen that rang off the post.

Mere seconds after Raffl's goal, Shawn Matthias almost tied up the game, but couldn't get the puck into a wide open net with Mason out of position. Matthias was positioned right at the corner of the net as a bouncing puck off the boards came to his stick. However, Matthias couldn't get the puck under control as the Flyers dodged a bullet.

The Canucks are back at it on Thursday when the Columbus Blue Jackets come to Rogers Arena. Then, it's off to Los Angeles (hopefully) one last time for a massive game against the Kings on Saturday night. Every game is a playoff game from this point out for the Canucks. They now sit three points ahead of the Flames and Kings in the division, and if they can turn in more games like tonight with strong finishes, they should be in a good position next month.

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