• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Coyotes edge Canucks in shootout

Mar 6, 2015 - 5:29 AM Glendale, AZ (SportsNetwork.com) - Sam Gagner scored the lone goal of the shootout as the Arizona Coyotes ended a 10-game skid with a 3-2 shootout win over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.

Gagner, Arizona's first shooter, beat Eddie Lack blocker side with a wrister that rang off the post. Mike Smith stopped Nick Bonino, Radim Vrbata and Chris Higgins to seal the outcome.

Tobias Rieder and Tye McGinn lit the lamp during regulation and Smith made 32 saves and stopped all three shooters during the shootout in the Coyotes' first win since Feb. 9.

Higgins and Vrbata each scored late in the third period to force overtime, while Lack turned aside 33 shots for the Canucks, who have dropped three of their last four games.

"We're not happy getting just one point, but in the big picture, it could be huge at the end of the season," said Lack.

Trailing 2-1, Vancouver pulled Lack with over a minute to go and was successful. Vrbata played Dan Hamhuis' cross-ice feed off the right-wing boards and blasted a shot that squeaked through Smith's pads to tie the game with 54 seconds remaining.

Early in overtime, Shane Doan embarked on a breakaway, but was stoned by Lack. The Canucks netminder also denied Kyle Chipchura's attempt on the rebound.

Moments later, Rieder gathered a turnover at Vancouver's blue line, but once again, Lack came up big as he robbed the rookie with a slick glove save.

The Coyotes outshot the Canucks 7-2 during the extra session, but Lack's solid effort sent the game to a shootout.

The Coyotes opened the scoring with one minute to play in the first period after Lack misplayed Gagner's shot off the end boards and Rieder was there to wrist the puck into the net for the lead.

Neither team tallied during the middle stanza, but McGinn drifted into the slot and shot home his own rebound for a 2-0 Arizona lead just 2:31 into the third.

Higgins got the Canucks within one with just 7:29 to play as he backhanded the puck into the net to finish off a give-and-go with Jannick Hansen.

Game Notes

The Coyotes donned their old kachina-style black jerseys and celebrated Throwback Night ... Doan played in his 1,378th game and tied Joe Sakic, Vincent Damphousse and Dean Prentice for 39th on the NHL's all-time list ... Vrbata scored 137 goals in six seasons and two stints with the Coyotes before joining Vancouver in the offseason ... The two teams meet again at Gila River Arena on March 22.