Coyotes 1 - 7 Canucks
Final
  for this game

Canucks bust out in rout of Coyotes

Dec 23, 2014 - 7:04 AM Vancouver, BC (SportsNetwork.com) - Alex Burrows had two goals and the Vancouver Canucks broke out of a scoring slump in a big way, rolling to a 7-1 victory over the Arizona Coyotes.

After mustering just 10 goals over their previous six games, the Canucks put up three in the first period to back a 38-save effort from Ryan Miller. Three of Vancouver's scores on the night came on the power play, where the club had gone 1-of-22 over its last seven outings.

Daniel Sedin and Brad Richardson had a goal and an assist in the rout, with Kevin Bieksa, Chris Higgins and Shawn Matthias also lighting the lamp for the Canucks.

"We're happy with the win. We did a lot of good things," said Burrows.

Mike Smith lasted just over a period for Arizona before being pulled after letting up four goals on 11 shots. Devan Dubnyk stopped 26-of-29 chances in relief.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson accounted for the Coyotes' lone goal as the visitors dropped their seventh game in the last eight.

"It's kind of a microcosm of our team this year," Arizona head coach Dave Tippett said of the game.

The Canucks beat Smith three times on just 10 shots in the opening period to give Miller all the support he needed, with Burrows beginning the barrage 6:34 in by collecting a loose puck behind the Arizona net and stuffing it through the Coyotes goaltender's pads.

Bieksa made it 2-0 when he raced out of the penalty box to join a Vancouver rush led by Henrik Sedin, who hit the defenseman in stride before Bieksa fired the puck in from the left side with 2:43 to go in the first.

It was a three-goal margin at the first intermission after Daniel Sedin knocked in a long rebound left by Smith on Radim Vrbata's initial attempt.

Smith's night then ended quickly in the second, when Richardson raced up the right side and rocketed a shot into the top right corner with just 1:41 elapsed in the session.

Burrows got his second of the night on a Canucks power play, chipping in a second-chance rebound while camped in front of the Coyotes net to make it 5-0 with 7:41 still remaining in the frame.

Arizona finally had a highlight later in the second, as Ekman-Larsson's wrister off a Sam Gagner feed got through a screened Miller with Arizona on a 5-on-4.

Higgins and Matthias each scored on the power play 2:24 apart in the third to finish off the lopsided win.

"It's nice to see the guys get rewarded, to see the smiles on their faces," Miller said.

Game Notes

Henrik Sedin finished with two assists ... Forward Jannik Hansen did not play for Vancouver two days after temporarily collapsing on the bench in Saturday's game against Calgary ... The Canucks were 3-for-8 on the power play ... Miller improved to 8-1-0 against the Coyotes for his career ... The Canucks avenged a 5-0 loss to Arizona in Vancouver back on Nov. 14, in which Dubnyk recorded 35 saves.






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