Canucks' Salo scores OT goal in 700th game

Sami Salo made his 700th NHL game a memorable one.

The veteran defenseman ripped a slap shot past Niklas Backstrom with 21 seconds left in overtime as the Vancouver Canucks earned a 3-2 victory against the Minnesota Wild at Rogers Arena on Saturday afternoon.

Daniel Sedin and Jannik Hansen also scored for Vancouver (4-3-1), while Cory Schneider made 21 saves. The Canucks have won eight straight home games against their Northwest Division rivals.

"I knew there wasn't much time left," Salo said. "I felt bad on the first three shots so I thought I'd give it a shot and good things happen."

Devin Setoguchi and Kyle Brodziak scored for Minnesota (3-2-3), which lost for the third time in its last four games.

"We're still not completely comfortable in those moments when the game's on the line, playing in your own zone you still get a little bit frantic sometimes," Wild coach Mike Yeo said. "We're not the only ones. We made them look like that a little bit too and that's the team that won the Western Conference championship (last season). I think there's a lot more to build off of in a positive game from this game than there is in a negative way."

After Dany Heatley was penalized for breaking Ryan Kesler's stick, Salo fired a slap shot from the point that beat Backstrom high on the glove side. Of Salo's 700 games, 505 of them have been played with Vancouver.

"I haven't thought too much about the games played," Salo said. "The focus has always been trying to put the best effort out there. But those 700 games have gone really quickly. ... The difference this year has been that I didn't miss the first six months of the season. It's a lot easier to come back when you're starting from the same level as the other guys."

Trailing 2-1 early in the third period, Hansen went to the net and tipped a Manny Malhotra shot between Backstrom's legs for his first goal of the season. Hansen entered the contest with just one assist and a minus-5 rating in seven games.

"I just wasn't playing well," Hansen said. "Not getting ahead of myself, it's only one game, but it's a matter of making sure I stick with what makes me successful, like going to the net."

Minnesota broke a 1-1 tie late in the second period when Brodziak converted a bang-bang play with Nick Johnson, who eluded Keith Ballard behind the net. He centered for Brodziak, who had position on Kevin Bieksa and one-timed the puck over Schneider's glove.

Daniel Sedin had tied the score on a power play 1:43 earlier, banking a shot from the side of the net off defenseman Nick Schultz and through Backstrom for his fourth tally of the season.

The Wild led 1-0 after the first period, which saw them receive three power-play opportunities.

Minnesota opened scoring two seconds after their first man advantage expired, as Setoguchi and Heatley executed a give-and-go to perfection. Setoguchi took Heatley's return pass and fooled Schneider with a nice backhand deke.

"Other than a few saves in the first and maybe that power play in the second, I really didn't have to do a whole lot," said Schneider, who has started three of eight games.

Material from wire services and team media was used in this report.