Final
Canucks try to build momentum vs. Coyotes
Dec 22, 2014 - 3:56 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Vancouver Canucks will have five days off after they wrap a four-game homestand on Monday night against the Arizona Coyotes.A second straight victory will make that breather easier to enjoy.
The Canucks snapped a five-game skid with a 3-2 overtime victory against the Calgary Flames on Saturday. It almost wasn't to be, though, as the Flames scored twice to rally from two goals down and force overtime, but Vancouver recovered and defenseman Chris Tanev came through with the winner just 18 seconds into overtime.
Following a missed shot by the Flames to begin the extra period, Henrik Sedin carried the puck into the Calgary zone and sent a pass back to the trailing Tanev, who snapped a shot from the slot into the net for his second goal of the season.
"It's a huge win for us. Five (losses) in a row is tough. We thought we played well last game so it's good to get the win tonight," said Tanev.
Ryan Miller made 26 saves and Radim Vrbata scored, while Yannick Weber was credited with a goal when the Flames sent the puck into their own empty net in the first period during a delayed penalty call.
The game featured a scary incident when Canucks forward Jannik Hansen collapsed on the bench shortly after taking a hit from Calgary's Dennis Wideman.
Following the play, he skated to the bench and remained hunched over. Hansen then appeared to go limp as his teammates helped and quickly banged their sticks on the boards for the officials to stop play. Medical personnel rushed to Hansen's aid and he was able to go to the locker room under his own power.
"He seemed like he couldn't get his breath there," Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said. "He kind of went down. When that happens it's not usual, so you're concerned. But everything's checked out at the hospital and everything is fine."
Surprisingly, Hansen may play in this game tonight after getting released from the hospital on Sunday, though he did not skate with the club yesterday.
Arizona may wish it had a nice break coming up, but it begins a span of games on back-to-back nights this evening having lost six of seven while going 3-8-3 since it last won consecutive games on Nov. 14-16.
The Coyotes are coming off a 4-2 setback to the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday as Devan Dubnyk was tested all night long. He was charged with all four L.A. goals while making 31 saves.
Martin Hanzal and Kyle Chipchura scored in the second period for Arizona, which was without both winger Lauri Korpikoski (lower body) and defenseman Michael Stone (upper body) due to injury.
"We just didn't play hard enough and took some stupid penalties, especially in the offense zone. It was unacceptable," said Hanzal.
Hanzal, who celebrated the birth of his daughter on Friday before playing versus the Kings, had a hat trick when the Coyotes beat the Canucks 5-0 in Vancouver on Nov. 14. That was the first of five meetings between the clubs this season.
Dubnyk had a 35-save shutout and is 8-6-3 with a 2.42 goals against average and .926 save percentage in his career versus the Canucks, adding three shutouts.
Mike Smith, who has sat for three straight games in favor of Dubnyk, is 6-3-2 lifetime versus Vancouver with a 2.19 GAA, .931 save percentage and two shutouts.
Miller gave up all five goals on 23 shots versus the Coyotes, falling to 7-1-0 against them with a 1.73 GAA and .941 save percentage.
The Canucks had a three-game home winning streak versus the Coyotes halted.
- ARIZONA: 1
VANCOUVER: 7
Final
Dec 23 12:39 AM - Vancouver Power-Play Goal - Shawn Matthias (7), at 9:33.
Coyotes 1, Canucks 7 3rd - 10:27Dec 23 12:18 AM - Vancouver Power-Play Goal - Chris Higgins (6), from Linden Vey and Nick Bonino at 7:09.
Coyotes 1, Canucks 6 3rd - 12:51Dec 23 12:15 AM - ARIZONA: 1
VANCOUVER: 5
End of 2nd
Dec 22 11:44 PM - Arizona Power-Play Goal - Oliver Ekman-Larsson (8), from Sam Gagner and Keith Yandle at 15:03.
Coyotes 1, Canucks 5 2nd - 4:57Dec 22 11:35 PM - Vancouver Power-Play Goal - Alex Burrows (8), at 12:19.
Coyotes 0, Canucks 5 2nd - 7:41Dec 22 11:31 PM - ARIZONA: 0
VANCOUVER: 3
End of 1st
Dec 22 10:46 PM - Vancouver Goal - Daniel Sedin, from Radim Vrbata and Christopher Tanev at 19:18.
Coyotes 0, Canucks 3 1st - 0:42Dec 22 10:44 PM - Vancouver Goal - Kevin Bieksa (3), from Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin at 17:17.
Coyotes 0, Canucks 2 1st - 2:43Dec 22 10:42 PM - Vancouver Goal - Alex Burrows (7), from Bo Horvat and Derek Dorsett at 6:34.
Coyotes 0, Canucks 1 1st - 13:26Dec 22 10:20 PM - ARIZONA: 0
VANCOUVER: 0
1st Period - 19:39
Dec 22 10:09 PM
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