The Vancouver Canucks wilted on Thursday night and could have easily gotten off to a slow start on Friday night against the rested Arizona Coyotes.
Instead, the Canucks went right at the Coyotes, overwhelming them in the first period and holding on down the stretch.
Rookie Jared McCann scored the first of two quick goals in the opening period, and the Canucks fought back a pair of rallies for a 4-3 win over the Coyotes.
Photo: AFP
“Whereas last night we didn’t have any luck — well, we had some — tonight they were going in and that made a big difference,” Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said.
Vancouver blew a two-goal lead in an overtime loss to Dallas on Thursday night and Arizona had two days off to recover from a long road trip.
The Canucks were the team with jump early, though. Alexandre Burrows scored shortly after McCann’s goal, and Brendan Gaunce added his first NHL score.
Arizona rallied in the second period on goals by Max Domi and Steve Downie. Unlike previous games this season, the Canucks pushed back.
Daniel Sedin scored shortly after Downie’s goal, and Richard Bachman made some key saves after Arizona’s Tobias Rieder scored with 2 minutes, 21 seconds left with goaltender Anders Lindback off the ice for an extra attacker.
Bachman stopped 29 shots in his first start after Ryan Miller played the first 10 games of the season and Vancouver had 11 different players with at least a point.
“The way we had four lines rolling, it was fun to play like that,” Sedin said.
The Coyotes have been plagued by slow starts this season and this one was no different.
Goaltender Mike Smith was pulled after allowing two goals on three shots in the opening 4.5 minutes, and Arizona were never able to climb back from the three-goal hole in the first period.
“It’s tough in this league trailing three early on like that,” Coyotes center Antoine Vermette said. “We battled back, but obviously we want to start better.”
McCann scored 1 minute, 56 seconds into the game with a slick semi-drag move, taking a pass from Adam Cracknell out front and sliding across the top of the crease before beating Smith to the stick side.
Burrow scored less than three minutes later with a shot from near the left boards that Smith shrugged at instead of sliding over, allowing just enough room for the puck to squeeze in.
The Coyotes pulled Smith after he allowed two goals on three shots.
He was replaced by Lindback, and he gave up a goal on the second shot he faced. This one was not really his fault, though; a shot by Christopher Tanev bounced off Gaunce’s leg and in to put Vancouver up 3-0.
Arizona scored their first when Domi swiped in a backhander for his fifth goal, and Downie beat Bachman to the glove side after crossing the blue line and stepping into a shot for his first goal with Arizona.
Sedin scored 23 seconds into the power play.
Arizona mounted another rally, but came up short after Rieder’s goal.
In other games on Friday, it was:
‧ Hurricanes 3, Avalanche 2
‧ Sabres 3, Flyers 1
‧ Capitals 2, Blue Jackets 1
‧ Bruins 3, Panthers 1
‧ Senators 3, Red Wings 1
‧ Wild 5, Blackhawks 4
‧ Rangers 3, Maple Leafs 1
‧ Canadiens 6, Flames 2
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