Canucks 3 Blues 2 (OT)

The Canucks broke out of their serious offensive slumber late in Friday night's game as they spotted St. Louis a 2-0 third-period lead before storming back to beat the Blues 3-2 on Salo's buzzer-beater in overtime.

The Misery in Missouri is finally over for the Canucks.

Salo's blast from inside the blue line cleanly beat St. Louis goalie Curtis Sanford, who had held the Blues in the game the entire night. Despite the fact the seconds were ticking down and the game seemed destined for a shootout, Salo made a quick move to give himself a clear lane before unleashing his shot.

"I had just noticed we had seven seconds so I thought there might be time for one move and that's what I did and just found the open hole," Salo said. "The guy was right in front of the lane so I just tried to get that lane. I just decided to make the better play."

1. Curtis Sanford (STL): If it wasn't for his 36 saves, this game wouldn't have been close.
2. Sami Salo (VAN): Played 27:02 minutes and kept throwing the puck on net (he had five shots on goal) before finally putting one behind Sanford with 0.7 seconds left.
3. Markus Naslund (VAN): In what is becoming a typical game for the captain, Markus played both ends of the ice and dove for loose pucks. And he tied the game with 26 seconds left in regulation time.

• When you watch highlights to this game, pay attention to Taylor Pyatt's goal. Doesn't it eerily look like the same kind of goal Anson Carter scored 33 times last season?
• After 20 straight penalty kills, the Canucks gave up a couple of powerplay goals to the Blues last night.
• More than half the game was played on specialty-teams, and while both teams took advantage of their opportunities (the Canucks more than the Blues), the game was frustrating to watch at times. Did Dave Jackson and Chris Lee have a quota they had to meet?
• When you watch highlights to this game, pay attention to Taylor Pyatt's goal. Doesn't it eerily look like the same kind of goal Anson Carter scored 33 times last season?
• One guy who seems to be getting better is Josh Green. Last night, he logged 14:07 minutes of ice-time - his highest total of the season - and in different situations, including the powerplay.
• Trevor Linden drew back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch on Tuesday. Because the Canucks spent most of the second and third periods on the powerplay - they had nine of man-advantages - Linden only played four shifts in the last half of the game and only logged 5:48 minutes of ice-time.
• Marc Chouinard only played 7:56 minutes, but at least was much better on the faceoff circle. He won 5 of 7 faceoffs.

• The Chief Canuck dittos the Taylor Pyatt sentiment.
• Sami Salo, Finnish God? Waiting for Stanley thinks so.
• Check out the comments section in WFS' post for some of Ingmar Bergman's thoughts as a St. Loo fan.

• Official Scoresheet
• Official Stat Sheet
• Shift Chart