 Playing floorball in the off-season, Salo tore his achilles tendon on 22 July 2010. After undergoing surgery, he was sidelined for the first four months of the 2010 – 11 season. The injury was so severe that Salo later admitted thinking his career was over during his rehabilitation. Before returning to the Canucks lineup, he was sent to the team's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, for a conditioning assignment. Making his AHL debut on 4 February 2011, he scored two goals for the Moose in a 3 – 2 win against the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins. Salo played two more games for the Moose, going pointless in both, before being called up by the Canucks on 11 February. Salo appeared in 27 games in 2010 – 11, recording three goals and four assists. During the first and second rounds of the 2011 playoffs, Salo missed four games with a leg injury. The Canucks eliminated the Blackhawks and Nashville Predators in the first two rounds to qualify for the Western Conference Finals against the San Jose Sharks. During Game 4 of the series, Salo set a Canucks playoff record for fastest back-to-back goals, scoring 16 seconds apart on a pair of 5-on-3 powerplays. The feat also tied Larry Murphy's NHL record for fastest two power play goals in the playoffs since 1957. Combined with Ryan Kesler's goal a minute and thirty-nine seconds previously, the trio of goals were also the fastest scored in Canucks playoff history at a minute and fifty-five seconds. Vancouver went on to win the game 4 – 2, while winning the series 4 – 1. Advancing to the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals, the Canucks were defeated in seven games by the Boston Bruins. During the off-season, Salo re-signed with the Canucks to a one-year, $ 2 million deal on 1 July 2011, prior to becoming an unrestricted free agent.
