Sami Salo and the streaking Vancouver Canucks looked just fine without star goalie Roberto Luongo.
After missing the previous two games with the flu, Salo set up the tying goal late in regulation and scored in the power play in overtime Monday night in Vancouver’s 3-2 victory over the visiting Detroit Red Wings.
Curtis Sanford made 32 saves in his first start since Luongo was injured, sending the Canucks to their season-best fourth straight win. Vancouver hasn’t lost in regulation since a 3-2 defeat against Detroit on Nov. 2, going 8-0-2 since.
“We’re rallying around each other,” Sanford said. “There’s adversity right now and we’re finding a way to deal with it. We have each other’s back out there and we’re going to find a way to get through all this.”
After straining a groin muscle Saturday in Pittsburgh, Luongo had an MRI exam Monday and is expected to be sidelined at least a week – probably longer.
“We don’t know. It’s the first time I’ve had an injury like this,” he said.
5.9 save percentage this month and leads the league with five shutouts overall, including three in a row from Nov. 4-8.
“This is a great challenge for our group,” Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said. “Our players play real well in front of Curtis, and Curtis is an experienced NHL goaltender. He’ll do a good job for us.”
In other NHL games, it was: Philadelphia 4, Dallas 3; the New York Rangers 4, Phoenix 1; Florida 3, Carolina 2; the New York Islanders 4, Montreal 3 in a shootout; Minnesota 4, Washington 3; and Anaheim 4, Colorado 1.
In Vancouver, British Columbia, Salo scored 2:33 into overtime, after his shot from the point was tipped in by Daniel Sedin to tie it 2-all with 2:25 left in regulation.
That came 50 seconds after Pavel Datsyuk gave Detroit the lead with a power-play goal.
“I basically slept the last 96 hours before today, so it’s a nice feeling to get the win,” Salo said.
Taylor Pyatt also scored for the Canucks.
Mikael Samuelsson had a goal and an assist for the Red Wings. The defending Stanley Cup champions had their five-game winning streak snapped and fell to 10-1-2 on the road.
The Canucks had all eight shots in overtime after being outshot 34-16 in regulation.
Salo finally ended it after Johan Franzen was called for interference, one-timing Pavol Demitra’s soft pass over Chris Osgood’s shoulder from just inside the left circle.
saves, but the story in goal was Sanford.
“It’s nice for Curtis,” said Sedin, who also assisted on Salo’s winner and surpassed 400 career points. “He’s going to be in the net for a while and it’s a good start. We know he’s a good goalie, so he can keep this going.”
Islanders 4, Canadiens 3, SO
At Montreal, Ryan O’Byrne put the puck in his own net on a delayed penalty to send the game into overtime, and Bill Guerin scored the shootout clincher.
Guerin was credited with the tying goal on O’Byrne’s gaffe late in the third period. Richard Park and Trent Hunter also scored for the surging Islanders, who won for the fifth time in six games.
Flyers 4, Stars 3
At Philadelphia, Mike Knuble scored two goals, including the tiebreaker at 14:52 of the third period, and the Flyers won their fifth straight.
Simon Gagne set up the go-ahead goal by stealing the puck at the blue line and passing it to Mike Richards, who fed Knuble in the slot for a one-timer. Scottie Upshall and Jeff Carter also scored for Philadelphia. Gagne extended his points streak to eight games with a pair of assists on Knuble’s goals.
Mike Modano scored twice for the Stars, who have lost three straight and six of seven.
Ducks 4, Avalanche 1
e games. Chris Pronger added a goal and an assist.
Rangers 4, Coyotes 1
At New York, Brandon Dubinsky scored his first goal in 14 games and Nikolai Zherdev had three assists, sending Phoenix to its sixth consecutive defeat.
Buoyed by the return of top center Scott Gomez after a five-game absence due to a leg injury, the Rangers shook off an early deficit and snapped their skid at two. New York, 4-2 in its last six, moved into a tie with Boston atop the Eastern Conference (32 points).
Blair Betts, Dan Girardi and Gomez also scored for the Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist returned to the net for the first time in five days and made 35 saves for his NHL-leading 13th win.
Panthers 3, Hurricanes 2
At Sunrise, Fla., Gregory Campbell’s goal snapped a 2-all tie late in the second period. Ville Peltonen and David Booth also scored and Tomas Vokoun made 27 saves for the Panthers, who stopped a two-game skid.
Wild 4, Capitals 3
At St. Paul, Minn., Cal Clutterbuck’s first two NHL goals sparked Minnesota’s sagging offense, and the Wild hung on against the injury-depleted and travel-weary Capitals.
Marek Zidlicky and James Sheppard also scored for Minnesota, and Niklas Backstrom made 25 saves. He almost unraveled over the final 6 minutes, giving up goals to Matt Bradley, Alex Ovechkin and the other Nicklas Backstrom that whittled the lead to one.
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