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Burns' overtime goal completes Wild comeback

Mar 14, 2007 - 6:34 AM VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Ticker) -- Defenseman Brent Burns is turning out to be quite a hero for the Minnesota Wild.

Burns scored his second straight game-winning goal in overtime as the Wild posted a 3-2 comeback victory over the Vancouver Canucks.

Mikko Koivu and Brian Rolston also scored for the Wild (40-24-7), who climbed within one point of the Canucks (41-23-6) for first place in the tight Northwest Division.

The Wild improved to 5-0-2 in their last seven road contests and 9-3-2 in the last 14 away from home.

Jan Bulis and Matt Cooke scored 2:02 apart early in the first period to stake Vancouver to a 2-0 lead.

Bulis opened the scoring at 4:37, when his shot from the right faceoff dot deflected off Burns' skate and past goaltender Niklas Backstrom. Cooke doubled the advantage at 6:39, redirecting Brendan Morrison's pass from the doorstep by the Finnish netminder.

But Koivu halved the deficit eight minutes into the middle session and Rolston blasted a slap shot from the blue line between goaltender Roberto Luongo's pads with 3:23 remaining in the third to forge a tie.

"It's not a matter of picking corners on that one," Rolston said. "I just put my head down and shot it. It looked like he was coming out to challenge and just didn't get down in time. He played a great game again tonight, and we were fortunate enough to come back."

"He walked in and I came out to challenge, but I wasn't able to get the pad down in time," Luongo said.

Rolston's goal was his 28th of the season. He scored a career-high 34 tallies last campaign.

Burns, who netted the winner in overtime against Colorado on Sunday, duplicated the feat when he banged the rebound of Marian Gaborik's shot from the doorstep past Luongo with 36 seconds remaining in the extra session.

"I just follow Gabby around and good things will happen," Burns said. "We showed a lot of composure battling back there and coming back. Anytime you can get points against these teams, it's big."

A former forward, Burns has five goals this season, three of which have been game-winners. He also scored the decisive tally in a 4-1 victory over Edmonton on February 25.

Backstrom made 22 saves for Minnesota, which has won four in a row. He has won three straight games, allowing just five goals in that span.

Jeff Cowan had two assists for the Canucks, who lost for just the fifth time in their last 20 home contests.

Luongo was denied his 40th victory this season. With his next win, he will become the sixth active netminder to reach the plateau.

"It's a tough one, considering we had the lead with two minutes left in the game," Luongo said. "It's a tough loss."