Vancouver Canucks 3, Anaheim Ducks 2 FINAL

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Sami Salo kept it simple with the game on the line.

Salo scored his second goal of the game with 7:48 left to help the Vancouver Canucks hand the Ducks' their record-tying eighth straight loss, 3-2 on Sunday.

Salo blasted a 50-foot slap shot from the point that deflected past goalie Ilja Bryzgalov, and the Canucks held on to finish a three-game trip with a 2-1 record.

``I just threw the puck in there and it just seemed to go through,'' Salo said. ``I think it could have gone either way at the end.''

Salo has six goals and 17 points in 21 games, a pace that would put him well above the career-best nine goals and 30 points he had with Vancouver in 2002-03.

Rob Niedermayer's power-play goal 47 seconds into the third period tied the game for Anaheim, which also lost eight games in a row in October 1996. Three of the eight losses have been in overtime. Three others were single-goal losses in regulation.

``We're playing some good teams and the games are close, but no wins,'' Anaheim captain Scott Niedermayer said. ``It's not fun that's for sure. This is a good test, a good challenge.''

The Ducks did show plenty of aggressiveness Sunday, perhaps too much. Anaheim was whistled for three goalie-interference penalties against Dan Cloutier.

``With the new rules, there are a lot of people crashing the net,'' said Cloutier, who was himself called for roughing after repeatedly punching Rob Niedermayer when he crashed into the Canucks' goal. ``They just kind of kept coming at me.''

With the game tied at 1 in the final minute of the second, the Ducks were in a great position to take the lead when Canucks defenseman Ed Jovanovski picked up a double-minor penalty.

But Vancouver's Trevor Linden scored a short-handed goal on a penalty shot with a second left in the second period. Linden, hooked by defenseman Keith Carney on a breakaway, beat Bryzgalov with a backhand shot.

``I thought he got a shot off,'' Carney said. ``I poked at his arm, I didn't try to trip him or pull him or anything. I'd never expect them to call a penalty shot on that.''

It was the first career penalty shot for Linden, a 17-year NHL veteran.

``I'm one for one,'' Linden said. ``It was a good trip for us. We didn't play very well in L.A., (5-4 loss) that's disappointing. There a good team it would have been nice to play well against them, but two out of three is acceptable.''

Salo opened the scoring on a power play with 4:55 left in the first period, and Andy McDonald tied it on a power play midway through the second.

Ducks goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere started the game, but left in the first period after aggravating a hamstring injury that had sidelined him for two games.

Notes: Anaheim general manager Brain Burke was Vancouver's GM from 1998-04. ... Anaheim winger Teemu Selanne played his 900th NHL game, the 415th with the Ducks. ... Anaheim first-year coach Randy Carlyle coached the Canucks' AHL affiliate in Winnipeg last season. ... Ducks winger Kip Brennan returned to the lineup after missing seven games with a shoulder strain.