Taylor Pyatt scored his second goal of the game 5:52 into the third period and the Phoenix Coyotes extended their winning streak to six games with a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday night.
Defenseman Keith Yandle walked into the high slot untouched and fired a shot that bounced off Pyatt and under goalie Roberto Luongo's arm.
Pyatt, a former Vancouver player, put the Coyotes up 2-0 early in the second period. But Christian Ehrhoff and Tanner Glass scored to tie it before the period ended.
Scottie Upshall also scored, Ilya Bryzgalov made 25 saves and Phoenix, coming off wins in Calgary and Edmonton, swept a Western Canadian road trip for the first time. Bryzgalov made a couple of nice late saves and got a break when defenseman Alex Edler hit the post off his glove with 4:53 left as the Coyotes recorded at least a point for the eighth straight game (6-0-2).
Luongo made 25 saves a night after getting pulled in a 7-1 loss to Chicago. Vancouver has lost consecutive games at home after starting 6-0-1 and four straight overall (0-3-1).
After getting hammered by Chicago in a sloppy, mistake-filled game, Vancouver came out playing a simpler style, dumping the puck in, working the defense down low while outshooting Phoenix 9-3 the first 10 minutes.
But after taking consecutive penalties, the Canucks were lucky not to be behind after 20 minutes as Ray Whitney rang a power-play one-timer off the far post with the net empty. Martin Hanzal raised his hands to celebrate what appeared to be a sure goal, and couldn't get his stick back down in time to bang in the loose puck before Luongo stretched out with his goal stick to block it.
The luck didn't last long in the second period. Shortly after Bryzgalov made a couple of big saves in a wild scramble 2 minutes in, Phoenix scored two similar looking rebound goals less that 4 minutes apart.
First it was Upshall getting his own rebound after tipping Nolan Yonkman's point shot at 2:22. Then it was Pyatt pouncing on a rebound from David Schlemko s tipped point shot in the slot before spinning and firing between Luongo's legs in one motion.
Ehrhoff put Vancouver on the board with a shot from between the circles at 8:51, but the Canucks got another scare when Luongo lay on the ice after stopping Sami Lepisto in alone midway through the period. Luongo stayed in after some medical attention around his left knee, and Glass tied it 5 minutes later.
NOTES: Phoenix captain Shane Doan returned after missing seven games because of a lower-body injury, but C Kyle Turris, who is from the area, missed the game after getting hit in the head twice Friday. Vancouver D Keith Ballard missed a second game with the flu, and has been out 11 games (four as a healthy scratch) after only missing 13 in his first five NHL seasons. ... The TV screens on the giant scoreboard above center ice weren't working, so it was lowered in the first intermission and a worker spent the rest of the game inside, getting it working in the second intermission. ... The Canucks, who have the NHL's top-ranked power play, did not get any power plays.
