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Bergeron lifts Wild past reeling Canucks

Feb 1, 2009 - 6:49 AM VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Ticker) -- Defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron scored a power-play goal just 1:52 into overtime as the Minnesota Wild handed the Vancouver Canucks their eighth straight defeat with a 4-3 triumph on Saturday in a battle of Northwest Division foes.

Bergeron finished with two goals and an assist and Pierre-Marc Bouchard notched three assists for Minnesota, which improved to 2-1-0 in its last three games.

Captain Mikko Koivu and Eric Belanger also scored and Niklas Backstrom turned aside 37 shots for the Wild.

"It's a big two points for us, too bad they got one point," Backstrom said. "We were pretty close to winning it before overtime, but it was great for us to bounce back and score the winner in overtime."

"The thing is, we're playing better and we have to get all the guys to play hard," Minnesota coach Jacques Lemaire said. "You look at tonight. You get some passengers, there's no way we can (win). And also, we need our goaltender to make the saves. Otherwise, we don't win. And he did."

Ryan Kesler netted a pair of power-play goals - including a game-tying tally with 16 seconds remaining in regulation - for Vancouver, which lost its franchise-record ninth straight game at General Motors Place.

"I think we really felt we had this one," Kesler said. "The way we played tonight, we gave up a couple early, but we definitely clawed back in it and showed a lot of character. Just an unlucky bounce at the end there."

"I thought we played a really strong game," Vancouver's Mats Sundin said. "They scored on some of the chances they had, but overall I thought we had a really strong effort. Goaltending, defense, forwards - I think we all did a good job. We had plenty of chances to win the hockey game and 4-on-3 in overtime, it's tough to defend against and they got the goal."

Defenseman Alex Edler added a goal and an assist and captain Roberto Luongo finished with 23 saves for the Canucks.

"I obviously think our battle level was better tonight and it needs to stay at that level and get better," Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault said. "That's how you're going to get breaks and you're going to get the bounces.

"Obviously I think we deserved more than one point tonight. I thought we outplayed that team, especially in the last two periods but their goaltender was the difference tonight."

With his team on the power play, Bergeron sealed the win after unleashing a blast past a screened Luongo for his seventh goal of the season.

"It was a great pass. It's all you need," Bergeron said of Bouchard's outlet pass.

"Me and (defenseman Marek Zidlicky) are two good shooters so they have two guys to look (for) and (Bouchard) is a (heck) of a passer and he sure did that tonight. He's just a good mix for guys that like to shoot. I'm glad that he gave me a nice pass."

The tally silenced the crowd after Kesler collected a loose puck in the slot and beat Backstrom in the waning moments of the third period.

The goal came nearly 12 minutes after Belanger gave Minnesota a 3-2 lead after wristing a shot past Luongo for his 10th goal of the season.

With his team on the power play, Koivu opened the scoring 7:38 into the first period after splitting a pair of Vancouver defensemen and backhanding a shot past Luongo for his 14th goal of the season.

"That's what you need, especially on the road. It's very important," Koivu said. "The effort that we had I think that's a good sign especially after last night. Back-to-back games on the road, it's not that easy. It's what we came for."

Bergeron doubled the advantage exactly four minutes later by unleashing a wrist shot from just inside the blue line which beat a screened Luongo for his sixth tally of the campaign.

Kesler cut the deficit in half after he scored on a breakaway 3:37 into the second period and Edler leveled the contest 3:03 into the third after unleashing a blast following a faceoff for his fourth goal of the season.