Canucks earn hard-fought win over Coyotes

[March 23, 2015]  GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Vancouver forward Radim Vrbata wasn't ready to celebrate his team's first win over the Kings on Saturday in Los Angeles. With the Canucks in a playoff dogfight, he knew that win wouldn't mean much if they didn't finish a two-game trip with a win over his former team, the Arizona Coyotes, who had lost 15 of their past 16 home games with that one win coming against Vancouver on March 5.

"Hopefully, we don't screw it up tonight," Vrbata said hours before the Canucks faced Arizona on Sunday at Gila River Arena.

Vancouver threw everything it had at goalie Mike Smith in the first two periods, outshooting Arizona 28-16, but Smith was spectacular, making 41 saves in the game for the Coyotes. It took a fluke goal from defenseman Alex Edler with 3:13 remaining in regulation to break a tie, and center Henrik Sedin added an empty-netter to give the Canucks a 3-1 win.

"I heard the post and waited," said Edler, whose shot from the point glanced off the left post, off Smith's back and in for the game-winner. "The post was ringing quite a bit tonight so it was nice that one went the right way. Points are huge at this time of the season."

The two points pushed Vancouver's lead over Calgary to four points for second place in the Pacific Division. Canucks goaltender Jacob Markstrom made 24 saves to earn his first career NHL win.

"I thought he was good," Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said. "It was a tough game. He sat for a while; he hadn't been in and I thought he made some big saves for us."

The Canucks (42-26-4) solved Smith just once through the first two periods, when left winger Daniel Sedin carried the puck down the wing and slid a pass to defenseman Yannick Weber, who was crashing the slot. Weber rang a shot off the far post and into the net for a 1-0 lead at the 14:23 mark of the first period.

Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson evened things up quickly with a spectacular individual effort. Ekman-Larsson carried the puck from his own end line through the neutral zone past two Canucks defenders. He fired a shot from the high slot on Markstrom, split two more Canucks to gather his own rebound and then scored on his third attempt for his 20th goal of the season.

"That one will make a lot of highlight films," Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. "From one goal line to the other and he probably couldn't have shot it from any closer to the other goal line. He's a special player."

No Coyotes defenseman has scored more goals in a season than Ekman-Larsson, who is just three short of Phil Housley's franchise record set while the team was in Winnipeg. Ekman-Larsson is the fourth defenseman in franchise history to reach the 20-goal plateau, joining Housley, Dave Ellett and Fredrik Olausson.

"I didn't think about it before the season but it's always fun to score goals," he said. "I just try to play my best every night."

Ekman-Larsson leads all NHL defensemen in goals. Unfortunately for the Coyotes, not many other players are chipping in.

The Coyotes (21-44-8) have scored more than two goals just twice in their past 22 games. Not surprisingly, they have lost 16 of its past 17 home games (0-15-2) and 18 of their last 19 overall (1-17-1).

NOTES: Coyotes LW Martin Erat returned to the lineup Sunday after missing Saturday's game with a right-arm injury suffered Thursday against Colorado. ... Coyotes RW Lauri Korpikoski played in his 400th game with the team. ... Canucks RW Alex Burrows was in the lineup one day after taking a cross-check from the Kings' Tyler Toffoli near the boards that reportedly left him with concussion symptoms after his head struck the side boards. Toffoli was not suspended, but was assessed a major penalty for boarding and a game misconduct. ... Canucks RW Brad Richardson (ankle) and RW Zack Kassian (back) did not make the trip. ... Canucks G Jacob Markstrom made his second career NHL start. Markstrom was pulled after allowing three goals on four shots March 3 against San Jose in his first start. ... Canucks LW Brandon McMillan (25) and Coyotes G Mike Smith (33) both celebrated birthdays.

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