Turnovers, Late Penalties and Pressure stop Wings Winning Streak

Sanford: “We’re rallying around each other,”

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -Sami Salo woke up just in time to save the Canucks.

After missing the previous two games with the flu, Salo returned Monday night to set up the tying goal with 2:25 left in regulation and score the winner on a power play 2:33 into overtime, lifting Vancouver to a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.

“I basically slept the last 96 hours before today, so it’s a nice feeling to get the win,” said Salo, whose point shot was tipped in by Daniel Sedin to tie it.

That came 50 seconds after Pavel Datsyuk gave Detroit the lead with a power-play goal. The Red Wings outshot Vancouver 34-16 through regulation, but it was all Canucks in overtime.

Vancouver had all eight shots in the extra period, including an early 3-on-2 rush when Willie Mitchell’s shot hit Chris Osgood in the mask and a sprawled Ryan Kesler put the rebound off the post.

Salo finally ended it after Johan Franzen was called for interference, one-timing Pavol Demitra’s soft pass over Osgood’s shoulder from just inside the left circle after the Canucks worked the puck around for almost a full minute.

“I have to thank (Demitra) for that goal,” said Salo, who also hit the post in the opening minutes. “I’ve had a few posts here lately.”

Curtis Sanford made 32 saves in his first start since star goalie Roberto Luongo was injured, and Taylor Pyatt also scored for the Canucks, who have won four straight for the first time this season. Vancouver hasn’t lost in regulation since a 3-2 defeat to Detroit on Nov. 2, going 8-0-2 since.

“We’re rallying around each other,” Sanford said. “There’s adversity right now and we’re finding a way to deal with it. We have each other’s back out there and we’re going to find a way to get through all this.”

Mikael Samuelsson had a goal and an assist for the Red Wings. The defending Stanley Cup champions had their five-game winning streak snapped, but still lead the NHL with a 10-1-2 record on the road.

“We let one slip away,” coach Mike Babcock said. “Full marks to them. We gave up 24 shots on the road and very few opportunities and they were able to find a way to win. We took a penalty in overtime and they made a good play.”

Source: Continue reading this story at NHL.com