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Jovanovski helps Coyotes end Canucks' home surge

Jan 12, 2008 - 7:10 AM VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Ticker) -- All-Star defenseman Ed Jovanovski knows how to win in Vancouver, and his former team paid the price.

Jovanovski drew a critical penalty and scored the first of two power-play goals in a 10-second span late in the second period to help the Phoenix Coyotes end the Canucks' six-game winning streak at General Motors Place with a 4-3 triumph on Friday night.

"I know as an ex-player that when you come back to a city that you enjoyed and you have friends and you have tremendous respect for people, you want to do well," Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky said. "I think it's no question Eddie wants to do well when he comes back here, and he wants to win and play well. I thought he had a solid game."

Rookies Peter Mueller and defenseman Keith Yandle also scored and Ilya Bryzgalov made 17 saves for the Coyotes, who have won six of their last seven contests and snapped an 11-game losing streak at GM Place. Their last victory here came on October 28, 1999.

"I am most disappointed that it's our first regulation loss in 14 home games and it has to come on my first home start," Canucks netminder Curtis Sanford said. "That's the hardest pill to swallow for myself personally, and I think for our team as well. And we obviously want to (be) better on home ice, but we also know that these games are going to happen, and we just need to bounce back."

With the contest knotted at 1-1, the Canucks suffered a two-minute lapse to close out the middle session and faced a two-goal deficit by the time the horn sounded.

Jovanovski, who spent seven seasons with Vancouver from 1998-2006, drew a holding penalty on Jeff Cowan with 1:51 left in the period. Cowan, however, did not immediately head for the penalty box, and a post-whistle confrontation with Jovanovski bought him another two-minute infraction.

"I know what he's out there for," Jovanovski said of Cowan. "He's a tough kid, but we all know my history the last couple of years with injuries. I'm not going to fight him and break my hand. I understand what he's doing, but I'm also told not to go out there and spend time in the penalty box."

"He went down pretty easy when I went over to him the first time, and I thought he took a dive," Cowan said of the incident. "I thought he probably should have got a diving penalty. It's a bad penalty, a bad time in the game to take it, and I'll just learn from that and try not to do it next time."

Cowan's mistake was made worse just six seconds later when Alex Burrows' clearing attempt went over the glass, resulting in a delay-of-game penalty.

Jovanovski then capitalized on the 5-on-3 advantage when his wrist shot from the top of the right faceoff circle beat Sanford with 13 seconds left in the session.

Due to Cowan's double-minor, Phoenix maintained the two-man advantage after Jovanovski's tally. With the Canucks already thinking about heading to the locker room, the Coyotes made a quick rush down the ice.

After taking a drop pass from Joel Perrault, Yandle glanced at the clock and unleashed a slap shot past Sanford with just three ticks left to give the Coyotes a 3-1 bulge.

"I thought that the turning point in the game was when Shane Doan hit their guy in front of the net at 1-0 - he kind of ran over their guy and kept the puck in," Gretzky said. "We tied it on that shift and then we got two late 5-on-3 goals."

Ryan Kesler got back one of the goals for Vancouver when he notched a shorthanded tally 38 seconds into the third period. But Niko Kapanen answered at 3:29 to restore Phoenix's two-goal lead.

"I think in the third period, we maybe relaxed a little bit and gave them a chance to score the goals, especially the shorthanded goal," Bryzgalov said. "After we bounced back and scored the goal and went up by two, we finished the last seven minutes really strong."

"You know (when) you're down 3-1, it's a tough league to come back," Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said. "Our guys tried to rally, but we ended up short."

Taylor Pyatt, who opened the scoring at 8:02 of the first, netted his second goal of the night with 8 1/2 minutes left in the contest to cut the deficit to 4-3. It was Pyatt's first multi-goal performance since recording a hat trick on November 17, 2005 as a member of the Buffalo Sabres.

"I felt pretty good in the last five or six games - skating well and skating to the holes a little more and getting more chances (and) shots on net," Pyatt said. "Tonight, I was able to capitalize on a couple."

Sanford turned aside 32 shots for the Canucks, who had not lost in regulation at home since November 1.

"Curtis did what every good goaltender is supposed to do - he gave his team a chance," Vigneault said. "He gave us a chance to stay in and fight back and to crawl back. And obviously, that's not our type of game. We need to keep it tight, and we're better when it is tight or if we have a lead."