Music: {allcanada} Coyotes top Canucks in shootout, end losing streaks

Thursday, March 5, 2015

{allcanada} Coyotes top Canucks in shootout, end losing streaks

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GLENDALE, Ariz. – Sam Gagner scored the only goal of the shootout, and the Arizona Coyotes, in throwback jerseys, ended a 10-game losing streak with a 3-2 win against the Vancouver Canucks.

Coyotes goalie Mike Smith made 32 saves through overtime before denying Nick Bonino, Radim Vrbata and Chris Higgins in the shootout.

Tobias Rieder and B.J. Crombeen scored for Arizona, and the Coyotes had a 2-0 lead midway through the third period.

But the Canucks came storming back late. Chris Higgins finished off a nice give-and-go with Jannik Hansen and beat Smith between the pads with 7:39 left in the third to pull Vancouver within a goal.

Then with 53.1 seconds left in regulation, Vrbata, who played six seasons with Arizona, tied it. His shot hit Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, got through Smith and trickled over the goal line.

It was the 29th goal for Vrbata, playing his first game in Arizona since leaving the Coyotes to sign with the Canucks as a free agent last summer.

Arizona (21-37-7) had not won since a 3-2 shootout victory against the Chicago Blackhawks on Feb. 9. It was the Coyotes' first win at Gila River Arena since a 4-1 victory against the Winnipeg Jets on Jan. 8. They were 0-8-1 in their previous nine.

Eddie Lack made 33 saves for Vancouver (36-24-4), including breakaway saves on Shane Doan and Rieder in the first minute of overtime.

Smith was trying to shut out the Canucks for the third straight time at Gila River Arena. He defeated them 1-0 on Jan. 14, 2014, and again March 4, 2014.

On Throwback Night in Arizona – the Coyotes wore their original Kachina-style jerseys and invited former players for a pregame ceremony – Smith took a 1-0 lead to the third period and was in the midst of a throwback night himself.

The Coyotes killed three penalties in the first period, including a double minor after Gagner cut Canucks defenseman Adam Clendening's face with a high stick. Arizona had the best scoring chance during Vancouver's man-advantage opportunities, but Lack poke-checked the puck off Doan's backhand to foil a 2-on-1 chance to keep the game even.

Arizona did get on the board late in the first. Ekman-Larsson's shot from the point missed the net, but Gagner was first to the carom alongside the net and pushed it out to Rieder. In tight, Rieder poked the puck by Lack at 19:00 for his 10th goal of the season and second in two games.

Smith made 11 saves in the first period and 10 more in the second, when the Canucks outshot the Coyotes 10-2 and had plenty of quality scoring chances.

Smith made a nice save on an Alexandre Burrows' rebound backhand shot in tight. Then he mishandled a puck off the boards and lost it to Burrows but caught a break when one shot was blocked by defenseman Andrew Campbell and another missed the net while Smith was sprawled on his back. He also denied Vrbata twice, once from his favorite spot in the right circle.

The Coyotes doubled their lead 2:31 into the third period on Crombeen's second goal of the season.

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