Coyotes clip Canucks on throwback night

[March 06, 2015]  GLENDALE, Ariz. -- It was a weird night in Glendale. A full moon hung over Gila River Arena, the Arizona Coyotes brought back their old goal song, "Werewolves of London," and they wore their original Kachina jerseys -- the black version -- for Thursday's home game against the Vancouver Canucks.

It figured that the team that had allowed more goals than any in the NHL, and the goalie with the league's 67th best save percentage, would shut down the Canucks for two and a half periods, blow the lead and then win it in a shootout, 3-2.

Coyotes goalie Mike Smith made 32 saves and center Sam Gagner scored the lone goal in the shootout as Arizona avoided setting a franchise-record losing streak. The victory ended the Coyotes' 10-game skid, which was the longest since the team moved to the Valley and tied two such streaks set while the team was still in Winnipeg.

"It was a release," Smith said of the win. "It's been a long time coming and it's obviously been some frustrating times through the last few months but we did a lot of good things to give us a chance to win tonight."

Left winger Tobias Rieder opened the scoring with a minute left in the first period when he banged a rebound of Gagner's initial attempt past Vancouver goalie Eddie Lack. It was Rieder's 10th goal of the season.

Right winger B.J. Crombeen was credited with the Coyotes next goal after left winger Tye McGinn collected a loose puck during a goal-mouth scramble and sent a wrist shot through traffic, off Crombeen's ankle and into the upper corner of the net.

But the Coyotes failed to convert on several breakaways that could have put the game away in regulation, including two by captain Shane Doan.

"I don't know when it's going to go in, hopefully soon because it's getting ridiculous," said Doan, who hasn't scored in his last 11 games. "I had more than my ample share tonight."

Vancouver left winger Chris Higgins scored on a backhand at the 12:21 mark of the third period to draw the Canucks within 2-1 while scoring on Smith for the first time in their last three meetings in Glendale.

Former Coyotes forward Radim Vrbata evened the game with 54 seconds left when he scored from the point through traffic for his 23rd goal of the season.

"It's tough to chase in this league and be down 2-0," Vrbata said. "We came back but too bad we couldn't find something in the shootout. It's a good point but we may want two in the end."

Vrbata had the best chance in the shootout, but he admitted to a little bit of overthinking against his former team, which had seen his patented backhander many times in practice.

"I think everybody was waiting for that backhander," said Vrbata, who hit the right post on his attempt. "I just felt that I should do something else against him and it almost worked."

The win was the Coyotes' first win at home since a 4-1 victory over Winnipeg on Jan. 4. It was their first win overall since a 3-2 shootout win in Chicago on Feb. 9

By earning a point, Vancouver moved into sixth place in the Western Conference standings with 76 points. The Canucks can Lack for that. He made seven saves in overtime, four off blatant Vancouver turnovers.

"He made a couple big saves," Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said. "He battles hard and it was good to see."

NOTES: Vancouver RW Radim Vrbata returned to Arizona for the first time since leaving the Coyotes for a two-year, $10 million free agent deal in the offseason. "I was here six seasons. We raised our kids here, and I am wondering how it's going to feel walking into the rink and playing a game," he said Wednesday. ... Canucks RW Zack Kassian (flu), RW Alex Burrows (groin), D Alex Edler (upper body) were all in the lineup. Vancouver F Brad Richardson (ankle), D Kevin Bieksa (broken hand), D Chris Tanev (head) and G Ryan Miller (knee) are on injured reserve. ... Former Coyote and current NBC NHL studio analyst Jeremy Roenick was in attendance on a night when Arizona handed out 5,000 Roenick bobbleheads.

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