Mikael Samuelsson scored his third goal in four games Saturday night to give the Vancouver Canucks a 2-1 victory over the struggling Minnesota Wild.
The goal, which snapped a 1-1 tie, came just as a roughing penalty to James Sheppard expired.
Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom, who made 37 saves during the game, was down and out of position when Samuelsson fired Alex Burrows' rebound past him.
Ryan Kesler gave Vancouver a 1-1 tie after Mikko Koivu counted for the Wild.
Andrew Brunette almost tied the game with 3:45 remaining but his shot trickled wide of the post off Vancouver netminder Roberto Luongo.
The victory was the Canucks' third in a row at GM Place as they improved to 3-4 and avoided falling into the Western Conference cellar.
Minnesota dropped to 1-6 after losing all five games of their road trip.
Koivu, the Wild's scoring leader last season, gave Minnesota a 1-0 first-period lead when his shot deflected past Luongo off the skate of Canuck teammate Kyle Wellwood.
It was only Minnesota's second shot on goal in a period where both clubs seemed to have trouble finding their skating legs after playing Friday night in Alberta.
The Canucks dominated the first 40 minutes, outshooting the Wild 27-8, including 17-4 in the second period when Kesler tied the game with his third goal in four games.
He took Kevin Bieksa's pass at the side of the net and banked the puck in off Backstrom's leg.
The goal came after the busy Backstrom got a pad on a good Kesler chance from the slot. He also denied Michael Grabner on the power-play.
Mason Raymond was twice foiled by Backstrom who got a pad on a backhand off a break-in chance and a glove on another opportunity. His glove beat Steve Bernier in the first period.
Luongo had to be sharp to stop a quick close-in shot by Koivu in the second period. Wild winger Benoit Pouliot had two good close-in chances in the opening 20 minutes but fired wide.
