NASH'S PAIR LEAD WOLVES IN SHUTOUT

Rick Nash

Denver, Colorado- Two days after a marque overtime victory back at home over the league's hottest team, the Timberwolves hit the road and pummeled the Denver Spurs on Wednesday.
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"We had alot of confidence coming into this game after such a big win on Monday against Fort Erie," said Timberwolves right-winger, Rick Nash. "It's big to keep that momentum going, and huge to start off a road trip with a statement win."
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Milan Lucic set the tempo for Thunder Bay 6:55 into the game in a spirited bout with Shane O'Brien that left both combatants bloodied.
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Dion Phaneuf opened up the game's scoring at 12:08 when the blueliner intercepted an errant Paul Stastny pass and skated in alone on Pekka Rinne. Spreading the legs of the goaltender and beating him five-hole.
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A war of words between Stastny and Nash near the end of the opening period, ended with slashes and gloved punches and a pair of roughing minors for the two going into the intermission.
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"It's a rough go out there tonight," said Nash at the break. "They're trying to slow us down, and that's not working. So they're trying to get in our face and throw us off of what we're here to do. And that's take two points out of here."
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At 5:45 into the middle period Nash acted on his words and put the Timberwolves up 2-0 with his 8th of the season from Francois Beauchemin and captain, Patrick Sharp.
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Another fight in the second between Phaneuf and Denver's Ryan Wilson at 10:02 did nothing to turn the tide in the home team's favour, and at 15:17 Nash scored his second of the game. The 3-0 lead would hold through the first forty minutes of hockey.
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"We're just not going to get pushed around and be intimidated in this game or any game against anyone," said Phaneuf. "We'll stand up for each other and will not back down."
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In the final twenty minutes of the game, the Timberwolves would add a pair of goals from their captain, and Rick Nash added two more assists to his brilliant night to close out the 5-0 win.
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"Ricker was great tonight," said his centre, Sidney Crosby. "He's a big guy that makes alot of room out there for himself and for Sharpie and I. Tonight was his night, and he made the best of it."
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The Timberwolves continue their road trip on Friday when they return to Ontario to take on the Niagara Falls Thunder [8-5-0].
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Thunder Bay will be without forward, Ryan Johnson for the next month or so with a lower body injury, and winger, Colby Armstrong for the remainder of the road trip after getting in on the wrong end of his own check. Taylor Pyatt has been recalled from Duluth, and Antti Miettinen will be looked upon to up his minutes.
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3-STARS
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*Rick Nash [THU] - 2 goals and 2 assists
**Henrik Lundqvist [THU] - 27 saves in his first shutout of the season
***Patrick Sharp [THU] - 2 goals and an assist