Coyotes pull off 3rd-period stunner over Canucks
Lawson Crouse scored the tiebreaking goal at 12:39 of the third period as the Arizona Coyotes defeated the host Vancouver Canucks 4-2 Wednesday night to pull into a three-way tie atop the Western Conference's wild-card standings.
Carl Soderberg, Nick Schmaltz and Oliver Ekman-Larsson also scored for the Coyotes, who improved to 9-2-1 in their past 12 games against Vancouver. Goaltender Darcy Kuemper, making just his second start since being sidelined since suffering a lower-body injury Dec. 19, made 36 saves as the Coyotes rallied from a 2-1 third-period deficit.
Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson scored for the Canucks, who suffered their fourth consecutive defeat and are tied for the top wild-card spot with the Coyotes and Winnipeg Jets. Thatcher Demko, playing for the injured Jacob Markstrom, stopped 36 of 39 shots.
Schmaltz and Crouse scored 2:29 apart just after the midpoint of the third period as the Coyotes overcame a 2-1 deficit.
Crouse's winner came after Vinnie Hinostroza skated behind the Vancouver net and sent the puck back to Ekman-Larsson at the left point. Crouse positioned himself in front of the net and tipped Ekman-Larsson's shot past Demko.
Ekman-Larsson added an empty-netter with 35 seconds remaining.
Schmaltz tied it after a Vancouver turnover deep in its own zone. Soderstrom corralled the puck in the left faceoff circle and fed Schmaltz in front of the net. He lifted a forehander over a sprawling Demko.
Toffoli and Pearson scored less than three minutes apart earlier in the third to give the Canucks the lead.
Toffoli tied it at 1-1 with a power-play goal at 3:19, beating Kuemper with sharp-angled shot from the left wing.
The Canucks tied it at 6:16, a rebound of Jake Virtanen's shot on a three-on-two break glancing off Pearson's skate and past Kuemper.
Soderberg's goal, at 7:27 of the first on the power play, came as he deflected a clearing attempt by Vancouver defenseman Oscar Fantenberg from behind his own net. The puck went off the back of Demko's left shoulder before plopping into the net.
--Field Level Media
