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Pyatt leads Canucks past Dallas in overtime

Apr 16, 2007 - 6:26 AM DALLAS (Ticker) -- The Vancouver Canucks needed just one overtime to win this time around.

Jan Bulis scored early in the third period and Taylor Pyatt's first career playoff goal at 7:47 of overtime gave the Canucks a 2-1 victory over the Dallas Stars and a two-games-to-one lead in their Western Conference quarterfinal series.

This extra-session contest was decided quickly compared to the teams' four-overtime marathon in Game One - a game Vancouver won, 5-4, when Henrik Sedin scored at 18:06 of the game's seventh period.

"They are hard-fought games," Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault said. "They took a 1-0 lead and there are a lot of teams that couldn't come back against such a difficult opponent. I thought we went out towards the end of the second and third and really took the play to them. We worked hard and got better as the game went on, found a way to tie it, and found a way to win in overtime.

"They are a solid, fundamental team and they don't give you a lot, but we were able to generate some quality scoring chances and finally, we were able to beat their goaltender (Marty Turco.) The loss was the seventh straight overtime loss in the playoffs for Dallas.

"I think the overtime record over the last whatever speaks for itself," Turco said. "But personally, I believe in these guys and know that next time we get in an overtime situation, we'll be playing to win again."

"We have a great deal of players who have had an opportunity to make a difference in a game, and we need some of those players to start doing that," Dallas coach Dave Tippett said. "You got to find a way to win. It just seems like we haven't found a way to get on top of it when it counts."

Roberto Luongo made 29 saves in this one for Vancouver, which plays Game Four in Dallas on Tuesday.

"I'm starting to feel more comfortable every game, and tonight was definitely the game where I felt most comfortable," Luongo said. "I'm going to just keep building on that and take it the rest of the way.

"We've been playing well on the road all year. We knew we could get the job done, and tonight we were patient and we waited for our opportunities and we had a big goal in the OT."

Turco was sharp as well, stopping 35 shots in the loss, including 14 saves in a third period that saw the Canucks outshoot Dallas, 15-4.

Turco, who shut out Vancouver 2-0 in Game Two, kept the Canucks off the board until Bulis scored on a rebound at 5:18 of the third period to tie the game at 1-1.

Pyatt's game-winner came on a one-timer from the top of the left faceoff circle off a feed from Bryan Smolinski.

"We wanted to end it as quickly as possible," Pyatt said. "We felt like we had the momentum at the end of the third and we wanted to carry it over into overtime and that was that.

"Trevor and Bryan Smolinski were really driving the forecheck and Bryan just gave me a really good pass, right on the money, and it was able to find the net and it went in. It definitely feels good. First-ever playoff goal and to be able to get it in overtime as a game-winner is definitely a nice feeling."

Tippett was not happy with the defense on the decisive tally.

"We had two defensemen in the corner that got outbattled," he said. "One of their guys was sitting in the slot. I don't know if Marty was screened or not, but it was a quick play."

"It found its way over my pad on the short side, it seemed like it was coming a little tighter to me," Turco said. "I'll look at it later, but in the end, it's really meaningless now because it went in and the game's over.

Dallas' only goal came on the power play at 13:09 of the second period as Stu Barnes tipped in Stephane Robidas' slap shot from the point.