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Salo's OT goal gives Canucks second straight win over Flames

Dec 28, 2006 - 8:36 AM VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Ticker) -- When the Calgary Flames have turned up the offense of late, it usually resulted in a victory. Sami Salo made sure that trend came to an end.

Ryan Kesler tied the game with just over 3 1/2 minutes remaining in the third period and Salo netted the winning goal 2:46 into overtime as the Vancouver Canucks completed a home-and-home sweep of the Flames with a 6-5 triumph.

Calgary entered Wednesday with a 4-4-0 mark over its previous eight games. While scoring just once in each of the four losses, the Flames netted at least five tallies in the victories. They again reached the five-goal mark in this one, overcoming a 4-2 deficit in the third period to take the lead but faltering in the end.

After Daymond Langkow's power-play goal with 4:47 to go in the third gave Calgary a 5-4 edge, Vancouver recovered from the outburst. With a scramble taking place in front of Miikka Kiprusoff, Kesler chipped the loose puck over the goaltender's left shoulder for his fifth tally of the season.

"It's a huge positive, getting that huge goal from Kes," Vancouver's Brendan Morrison said. "It was good that we didn't just pack it in when we went down in the third. But we're still a little disappointed that we blew two two-goal leads at home. We tried to protect the lead instead of going after them."

In the extra session, Salo unleashed a one-timer from above the left faceoff circle that deflected off the stick of Calgary's Chuck Kobasew and between the pads of Kiprusoff, giving Vancouver its second win in as many nights against its Northwest Division rival.

"It really felt good," Salo said. "Mattias (Ohlund) gave me the puck and I just tried to shoot it at the net and it seemed to go in off of their guy. This win is huge. Last night's win wouldn't have meant anything if we had lost tonight."

Matt Cooke had a goal and an assist and defenseman Ohlund set up three tallies for the Canucks, who improved to 7-1 in games decided after regulation - with the loss coming in a shootout - and 1-8-0 when allowing four or more goals.

"You had two of the top goaltenders in the league (in Kiprusoff and Roberto Luongo) facing each other tonight and they were both off their games," Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault said. "But you got to see some more goals, and I guess that's more exciting for the fans. For a Canuck fan, it was a good win."

Kristian Huselius notched his seventh career two-goal game and second this season and David Moss netted his third tally in as many NHL games for Calgary, which lost its third in a row.

"It was a big point for us, but you're not satisfied with losing a hockey game," Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf said. "We showed lots of spirit coming back. You play a team in their building and come back like we did, that's definitely a positive."

"At the end of the day, our team showed some character coming back from a two-goal deficit twice on the road," Calgary coach Jim Playfair said. "You always want to get a point, so we have to leave here recognizing that we got a point."

After halting a three-game skid with a 3-1 victory at Pengrowth Saddledome on Tuesday, the Canucks took a 2-0 lead on first-period goals by Daniel and Henrik Sedin.

At 2:32, defenseman Kevin Bieksa unleashed a wrist shot from the right point during a power play that got through a crowd and hit the left goalpost. Daniel Sedin was there to tap in the loose puck for his 13th goal of the season.

With 6:21 to go in the session, Henrik Sedin received a cross-slot pass from his twin brother on a 2-on-1 rush and beat Kiprusoff from the left side for his fifth tally.

"The first period was a good period," Henrik Sedin said. "I don't know what happened, but we let them in the game again. We can't let that happen, they're a good team."

Byron Ritchie and Huselius scored 65 seconds apart midway through the second period to draw Calgary even, but Cooke ended a 25-game goalless drought at 14:09 with his second of the campaign and Morrison netted Vancouver's first shorthanded tally this season less than three minutes later to restore the Canucks' two-goal lead.

"It's been a long time coming, but I felt a lot better the last 10 or 12 games and I felt like I was getting into the areas that I needed to get to," said Cooke, who scored for the first time since October 25. "Tonight was just a result of keeping it simple."

The Flames stormed back early in the third on goals 81 seconds apart by Huselius and Moss, then moved ahead on Langkow's fourth in six games.

"We showed a lot of character coming back from two two-goal deficits, but it's tough because with four minutes left, we got the lead. We couldn't close the deal."

"Obviously, there were a couple mistakes there, but they're a strong team there," Vigneault said. "We beat them last night in their building and we knew they were going to come hard. ... Was I surprised that they came back? No."