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Late power-play goal lifts Canucks past Flames

Oct 7, 2007 - 6:22 AM CALGARY, Alberta (Ticker) -- Daniel Sedin scored a power-play goal with five seconds left in overtime to lead the Vancouver Canucks to a 4-3 victory over the Calgary Flames on Saturday.

Calgary defenseman Dion Phaneuf put Calgary in a bind when he was whistled for hooking with 13 seconds left in overtime. Vancouver took advantage, winning the ensuing faceoff and keeping the puck in the offensive zone.

Defenseman Mattias Ohlund threw the puck on net from the right point, and the rebound got behind goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff. Sedin was alone on the doorstep and poked at the puck before Calgary blue-liner Robyn Regehr attempted to stop it from crossing the goal line.

As Kiprusoff was diving back trying to clear it, Regehr inadvertently pushed in the puck, giving Vancouver the win.

The goal by Sedin, his first of the season, gave the Flames their second consecutive home loss to start the campaign.

Daymond Langkow brought the Flames back from a 3-1 deficit with a pair of goals in the third period, forcing overtime.

"I don't know if we were tired," Ohlund said. "We just stopped skating. But we got it back."

Vancouver's power play sprung to life in the second period, scoring three times to provide a 3-1 lead.

Ohlund got Vancouver on the scoreboard with a slap shot from the blue line that beat a screened Kiprusoff at 5:32. The Canucks grabbed a 2-1 lead less than four minutes later on a 30-foot snap shot from the left faceoff circle by captain Markus Naslund that hit Kiprusoff's blocker and deflected into the net.

Vancouver extended its lead with 1:40 remaining in the session, when Ryan Shannon tapped in a cross-crease pass from Sedin.

The three power-play goals in a period fell just short of a franchise record. The Canucks scored four man-advantage tallies in one session against Edmonton on December 14, 2002.

"It was a little discouraging to give up four goals on the power play," Calgary coach Mike Keenan said. "We were the No. 1 team on penalty kill in the league in the preseason."

Canucks coach Alain Vigneault agreed with Keenan's assessment that special teams were the difference.

"Our power play was better than theirs," Vigneault said. "And our penalty kill was better tonight"

Calgary took an early lead when defenseman Cory Sarich fired a wrist shot that beat netminder Roberto Luongo low to the glove side at 2:10 of the first period. The goal was Sarich's first as a Flame - and first since March 25, 2006 while playing with the Tampa Bay Lightning, a span of 95 games.

Langkow drew Calgary within 3-2 with a power-play tally early in the third. Langkow's goal, his third of the season, came on a snap shot from the left circle that eluded Luongo's glove.

The loss left the Flames winless in their first two games for the first time since the 2002-03 season. It also added to Calgary's traditional early-season woes, as the club has finished with a winning record in October only once in the last 10 campaigns.