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Daniel Sedin scores in OT as Canucks dump Blues

Mar 16, 2007 - 5:32 AM VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Ticker) -- With extra spacing in overtime, the Sedin brothers had more room to work their magic.

Daniel Sedin netted the clinching goal in the extra session and twin brother Henrik added a goal and an assist to lead the Vancouver Canucks to a 3-2 triumph over the St. Louis Blues.

Vancouver (42-23-6) snapped a two-game slide with its 16th victory of the season after regulation. The Canucks are 16-2-3 in their last 21 home games and moved one point in front of the Minnesota Wild (41-24-7) in the Northwest Division race.

"After the last couple games, we needed (the win)," Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo said. Obviously, (Minnesota) won tonight, but it's really nice to get the win more than anything else."

"I thought we had a lot of energy and that's what we were looking for," Vancouver captain Markus Naslund said. "We totally outplayed them in the first, and I thought we had the momentum in the second and third, too."

After St. Louis defenseman Eric Brewer was whistled for roughing late in the third period, the Canucks opened overtime with a 4-on-3 power play. They capitalized at the 1:09 mark as Daniel Sedin sent his brother's cross-crease pass by goaltender Curtis Sanford.

"Today, we came out strong," Daniel Sedin said. "We got the puck in and forechecked really hard. That was the difference. ... We had a lot of scoring chances but we have to believe if we keep shooting, they're going to go in."

"It's almost better to have a 5-on-3, because there's that extra guy out there that they have to worry about to," Sanford said. "(With a) 4-on-3, there's a lot of ice to work with and they found what they needed."

Trailing, 2-0, the Blues rallied with two goals in a 3:35 span of the third period. After Jamal Mayers scored his eighth of the season with seven minutes left in regulation, Petr Cajanek netted his 12th from the slot with 3:25 to go.

Henrik Sedin opened the scoring at 1:30 of the second period with his 10th tally, shooting a pass from Daniel into the top right corner of the net.

Trevor Linden doubled the margin midway through the third with his first goal in 10 games and 10th of the campaign, finishing a 3-on-2 break with a shot over Sanford's right pad.

Luongo made 20 saves to become the first goaltender in Canucks history to record a 40-win season.

"Every win for me is about playoff position," Luongo said. "It's nice to get the milestone but it's really not important now at this stage of the season."

Sanford stopped 34 shots for St. Louis, which has dropped five of its last six contests.

"We caught fire for about six minutes there and were able to (score) a couple," Sanford said. "But, the penalty, four minutes, it's a guy sticking up for me, so we can't be upset about that."

"We've got a lot of drive on this team and we battled back," Blues coach Andy Murray said. "The Canucks were better but we had a couple chances to win it in the last minute or so. It would have been interesting to go into overtime at even strength because we were really coming on."