|
 Center Markus Granlund scored at 1:42 of overtime as Vancouver beat
the Arizona Coyotes 3-2 Wednesday night at Rogers Arena.
It was Granlund's first goal in seven games as a Canuck since
arriving in a trade from the Calgary Flames. The Canucks (26-28-12)
snapped a three-game home losing streak and won for just the third
time in 10 home games.
"It was nice to score," Granlund said. "I still think I can do more.
Of course, you want to play good and score, too."
The Canucks have the second-worst home record in the NHL, ahead of
only the Toronto Maple Leafs.
"It's a good feeling," Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said. "You
know, we really wanted to win at home.
"We haven't won at home in ... We wanted to win at home. That was
something we all wanted. It was nice to get this and it was nice to
get it in that fashion."
Having overcome a 2-0 deficit to force overtime, Vancouver needed
goaltender Jacob Markstrom to come up big on a breakaway by Arizona
center Max Domi a minute into the extra time.
As Domi sped down the ice, Markstrom moved out, then backed up and
got his left pad on the Arizona rookie's deke attempt.
"He was coming in real fast so I tried to get out fast so I could
get some speed coming back," said Markstrom after picking up his
second win in a row. Desjardins platoons his netminders.
Arizona jumped to a two-goal lead early in the second period as it
dominated in the faceoff circle, winning 72 percent of the game's
draws.
Right winger Tobias Rieder put the Coyotes up 1-0 at 2:57 of the
second period on a power play, taking a long cross-ice pass from
left winger Alex Tanguay and beating Markstrom when the goalie
couldn't get across his crease in time.
After the Coyotes won yet another draw in Vancouver's end a few
minutes later, left winger Anthony Duclair fed defenseman Kevin
Connauton from behind the net, and Connauton beat a partially
screened Markstrom high to the glove side for a 2-0 Arizona lead at
7:41 of the second.
Markstrom said he was frustrated.
"When you get called to play, you just try to give the guys a chance
to win," Markstrom said. "I knew the next goal would be huge."
The next goal came from the stick of Vancouver right winger Radim
Vrbata, who scored only his second goal in 17 games.
Taking a perfect stretch-pass feed from defenseman Yannick Weber at
the Arizona blue line, Vrbata blew between three Coyotes and beat
goalie Louis Domingue with a nifty backhand deke at 11:55 of the
second period.
[to top of second column] |
Vancouver defenseman Luca Sbisa's one-timer slap shot from the blue
line made it 2-2 at 17:38 of the second, after his defense partner
Ben Hutton drew Coyotes defenders to him before feeding the puck to
Sbisa.
It was Sbisa's second goal of the season and his first in 30 games.
"We only gave up two chances in the second period," Arizona coach
Dave Tippett said. "They got two goals off two chances. One was a
redirect in front, and the other one just a poor read on our
defending."
Tanguay said the Coyotes let one slip away.
"Up two in the second period, we felt great about ourselves, and
then all of a sudden a couple times we get lost in our own zone and
create opportunities for them and let them back into the game," he
said. "It's certainly frustrating.
"When you are up 2-0 on the road, you have to make sure you play
solid, you don't get lost, you play the position. The outcome is
very frustrating."
Markstrom finished the night with 32 saves, Domingue with 28.
NOTES: The NHL announced Wednesday that Coyotes D Jarred Tinordi was
suspended for 20 games for testing positive for a banned substance.
... Arizona's last road win was in a shootout on Jan. 25. Their last
road win in regulation time was on Jan. 7. ... The Coyotes' leading
scorer, D Oliver Ekman-Larsson, sat out the game with a shoulder
injury he sustained after crashing into the boards at Colorado on
Monday. G Mike Smith, out since Dec. 8 with abdominal surgery,
travelled with the Coyotes and is back practicing. ... The Canucks
on Wednesday announced the signing of Russian D Nikita Tryamkin to a
two-year contract. Tryamkin, drafted 66th in 2014, is 6-foot-8, 240
pounds. His KHL club released him early so he could join his new NHL
team. ... Vancouver announced that D Alex Edler will not return this
regular season. He broke his leg on Feb. 9 against Colorado. C
Henrik Sedin and D Chris Tanev both missed their second straight
games with upper-body injuries.
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
