VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Daniel Sedin helped his brother Henrik make up for an earlier mistake.
Daniel scored 1:26 into overtime -- 30 seconds after Vancouver finished killing off a late penalty to identical twin Henrik -- to lift the Canucks to a 3-2 win over the Minnesota Wild on Sunday night.
"They got some great chances on the four-on-three and we were able to kill that one off and get the last chance," said Henrik, whose hooking penalty extended 56 second into overtime.
After Henrik stepped out of the box, the brothers worked a perfect give-and-go play off the rush, with Daniel passing off then spinning around in the high slot to one-time a return feed over Manny Fernandez's outstretched glove.
"I thought he was going to shoot it but he made a good pass and it was nice to see it go in," Daniel said. "I didn t really think about the shot, I just tried to get it to the net."
Ryan Kesler and Bryan Allen also scored, and Alex Auld made 14 saves for the Canucks, who snapped a two-game home losing streak to head into the Olympic break just two points behind Calgary atop the Northwest Division.
After giving up power play goals in 10 straight games, Vancouver blanked the Wild on seven chances. None were bigger than the last two: A Jarkko Ruutu kneeing penalty with 3:15 left and Henrik's hook with 1:05 remaining in regulation.
"The PK played great tonight, that was the difference between zero points and two points," said Daniel. "It was a big win for us against a division rival."
Pascal Dupuis tied the game early in the third period, and Wes Walz added a goal and an assist as the Wild lost for only the second time in six games.
Fernandez stopped 29 shots as Minnesota rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the third period to earn a point, moving within five of eighth-place Edmonton for the final Western Conference playoff spot.
"We had opportunities," said Wild captain Brian Rolston. "We could have snuck out of that game with two points -- not that we necessarily deserved it -- but we could have and we have to bear down on the power play and get it done."
Kesler opened the scoring after Todd Bertuzzi leveled Walz with a big hit just eight minutes in. The puck squirted loose to Kesler in the slot and he spun around on the backhand and snuck a shot through Fernandez's legs that trickled in.
Vancouver controlled the first period, outshooting the Wild 11-3, but went into the first intermission tied after the third shot went in with 42.1 seconds left.
Stephane Veilleux's shot bounced off a defender and straight to Walz in the high slot, where he walked around Henrik Sedin before snapping a shot through Auld.
Allen restored the lead 5:28 into the second period with a harmless looking point shot that found its way through traffic and deflected in off the left skate of a surprised Fernandez.
"Didn t see the first one, didn t see the second one, said Fernandez, who made 11 saves in the third to help the Wild earn a point after Dupuis tied it on a rebound 4:46 into the period."
"Saw the third one," added Fernandez, who had no chance on Daniel's quick shot just inside the top corner. "You just don t expect a perfect shot as soon as that and as good as he hit it. At least we got one point out of this."
Notes
- Wild C Randy Robitaille missed the game after breaking his big left toe blocking a shot Friday in Edmonton, but hopes to be back right after the two-week Olympic break.
- Minnesota's Alex Henry moved up from D to LW for a second straight game.
- Wild coach Jacques Lemaire's remains one win short of 400 behind the bench, a milestone Canucks coach Marc Crawford reached on Feb. 2.
