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(SportsNetwork.com) - Just when the sun brightens a bit for the Vancouver Canucks, it is followed up with a torrential downpour. The Canucks will be without their leading goal scorer for the rest of their road trip, one that resumes on Friday night against the Washington Capitals. Wednesday should have been a night that left the Canucks feeling good about themselves. They snapped a seven-game road losing streak with a 3-2 shootout win over the Winnipeg Jets in the opener of a four-game swing and saw forward Alexandre Burrows net his first two goals of the season. Of course, the good came with the bad as Ryan Kesler left in the game following a knee-on-knee collision and went back to Vancouver for further tests. It is not known how long he will be out, but head coach John Tortorella did admit that Kesler will not play for the rest of this trip, one that includes games versus the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning. Kesler was mentioned in a number of trade rumors before last weeks deadline, but the Canucks did not pull the trigger on a deal to move the forward, who has 22 goals on the season. Keslers 40 points are tied with Daniel Sedin, currently out with a strained left hamstring, and one back of Henrik Sedin for the team lead. Minus the forward, Eddie Lack made 32 saves through overtime before stopping all three skaters he faced in the shootout. Vancouver then earned the extra point on Chris Higgins third-round tally. "We lose (Kesler) before the third and we get down, so yeah, I thought we played hard right on through. And thats two out of the last three games that we have played well in the third period, so good for them," Tortorella said. "Theyve hung in there, theyve hung together. Losing a big guy like (Kesler), I thought they stuck together as a group. It was really nice to see." So was the production from Burrows, who scored his first goals since April 15 of last year. That gave him a gap of 40 games between goals in the regular season. "It was one of those nights it seemed the puck was finding me around the net," said Burrows, who hadnt scored a goal in his first 35 games of the season. "I had a lot of chances. Honestly, I think I had four real good looks." Vancouver picked up its first road win since Jan. 21 in Edmonton and sits four points back of a playoff spot in the Western Conference. Lack, meanwhile, rebounded after giving up six third-period goals in a 7-4 setback to the visiting New York Islanders on Monday and is likely to face Washington tonight for the first time. The Capitals are looking to put their own struggles behind them as they were just swept in a home-and-home set by the Pittsburgh Penguins. That gave the club five losses in its past six games and Washington sits three points out of the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. After losing a 3-2 decision at home on Monday, the Capitals were blanked 2-0 in Pittsburgh the following night. Jaroslav Halak made 32 saves, but the Penguins Marc-Andre Fleury stopped all 32 shots he faced. "We were on our heels the whole first period, no question," said Capitals coach Adam Oates. "We turned it over too many times -- probably a little hangover from (Monday) night." Evgeny Kuznetsov failed to record a point in the two games, the first of his NHL career after signing an entry-level deal on Saturday. He was the 26th overall pick of the 2010 draft and the Russian-born forward had been playing in the Kontinental Hockey League. It has also been a rough few games for Caps forward Alex Ovechkin, who leads the NHL with 44 goals but does not have a point in his past four games. He is a minus-4 over that span. Halak, acquired from the Buffalo Sabres before the trade deadline, started both games versus the Penguins and is 4-3-1 lifetime with a 2.12 goals against average versus the Canucks. Fellow Washington netminder Braden Holtby has never faced them. The Capitals have lost four straight and nine of their last 10 meetings with the Canucks, including a 3-2 setback in Vancouver on Oct. 26. The Canucks have won four of their last five trips to Washington and are eligible to have forward Zack Kassian back in the lineup tonight. He finished serving a three-game suspension for a hit-from-behind versus Dallas last Thursday. Cheap Ray Ban Sunglasses Sale . Howard hit a three-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Philadelphia Phillies to a 6-3 win over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday night. Cheap Ray Ban Sunglasses Online .75 million contract for the 2014 season and avoided arbitration. The team announced the agreement on Tuesday. http://www.cheapraybansale.com/ . But the young forward is more than willing to shed a little blood if thats what it takes to make the team this season. "It caught me pretty good, dazed me for that shift, but I didnt want to be off the ice for too long," he said after practice, his lip still bleeding a little despite the plastic stitches holding it together. Ray Ban Wholesale China . Got Jacks? Pulling off a comeback for the ages, feisty Stephen F. Austin became the latest No. 12 seed to pull off an upset, tying the game on Desmond Haymons did-that-just-happen four-point play with 3. Wholesale Ray Ban Sunglasses . -- Michael Phelps is 0 for 1 in his comeback to the pool.MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - With the Miami Dolphins at 7-7 and all but eliminated from the playoffs, defensive tackle Jared Odrick talked about playing out the season.Were on a team thats .500, he said. If you dont believe that youre a .500 team, you have to go out there and prove it. Weve got two more games to do that.So a winning record would be a significant achievement?Nah.Finishing 9-7? Odrick said. Finishing 9-7 and not going to the playoffs doesnt mean a thing.If more Dolphins could reverse direction so quickly, they might be Super Bowl-bound.Its tough to blame Odrick for having trouble convincing himself that Sundays game matters. Motivation can be difficult for teams out of the playoff chase, and thats the challenge both teams face when the Dolphins play the Minnesota Vikings (6-8).Here are things to know about the matchup between also-rans:THE STAKES: The game means a lot to Dolphins coach Joe Philbin, whose job is in jeopardy after lopsided losses the past two weeks likely ensured a third consecutive season out of the playoffs.Players have been vocal in defending Philbin and his staff.I dont think its the coaches fault, receiver Mike Wallace said. I think its our fault. I dont think weve played up to our potential throughout our games. I dont think weve played a full 60 minutes, except maybe two or three times. Were selling ourselves short — the players, not the coaches.Another loss might seal Philbins fate, while a sweep of the final two games would give Miami its first winning season since 2008, a sign of progress that could influence owner Stephen Ross.In the absence of Adrian Peterson, the Vikings have been out of the race since Thanksgiving. But theyve won two of their past three games to give them a shot at a .500 finish under first-year coach Mike Zimmer.Were moving in the right direction, defensive end Brian Robison said. Thats what you want to see out of a club thats under a new regime.QB HOMECOMING: There likely will be lots of empty seats Sunday, but dont blame Vikings rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. The Miami native will have plenty of family and friends in attendance, although he couldnt provide an exact count because his mother handles ticket requests.Im pretty loved back home in Miami, andd a lot of people tell me that Im a role model in my community, Bridgewater said.dddddddddddd. So itll be amazing to see how many turn out there and get to see me play in person for the first time.Bridgewater grew up a Dolphins fan and attended a couple of their games before heading off to Louisville. He said he envisioned himself playing in the stadium someday.As a child I had high dreams and aspirations, he said. Making it to the National Football League and to be able to play there my first year in the NFL, its pretty amazing.Bridgewater will make his 11th start, passing Fran Tarkenton and Christian Ponder for the most by Vikings rookie quarterback.GOING LONG: Miamis Ryan Tannehill is finally showing progress with his accuracy on long passes.In last weeks loss at New England, Tannehill threw deep to Wallace for 50 yards on the first play, and went long to Wallace for a 32-yard score at the end of the first half. Another deep throw into the end zone was dropped.He had a number of deep balls that were as good as any we have seen him throw in games, offensive co-ordinator Bill Lazor said. We have seen improvement in practice, and we kind of felt like that it should be showing up in the game.For the season, Tannehill is 8 for 36 (22 per cent) on throws of more than 20 yards.COACHING PALS: Zimmer said his friendship with Dolphins defensive co-ordinator Kevin Coyle could be a factor in the game. They worked together with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2008-11, when Zimmer was defensive co-ordinator and Coyle coached the secondary.Ive played against guys that have been with me before, and theyll run a play and you will say, Ah, I told them about that, Zimmer said. Its one play here or there.WINTER IN MIAMI: The Vikings practice in their field house with the doors open to simulate colder conditions for late-season games, but this week the doors were closed and the heat turned up to prep for Miami.It will be 80 degrees, Zimmer said before one workout. Not sunny, but it will be 80 degrees.___AP Sports Writers Dave Campbell and Jon Krawczynski in Minneapolis contributed to this report.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL___Follow Steven Wine on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Steve_Wine ' ' '