GLENDALE, Ariz. -- It was a fun night in Glendale. What a welcome change.
A full moon hung over Gila River Arena, the Arizona Coyotes brought back their old goal song, "Werewolves of London," and they wore their original Kachina jerseys -- the black ones -- for Thursday's home game against the Vancouver Canucks.
Even members of the original 1996-97 team were in town, like Jeremy Roenick, Nikolai Khabibulin and Craig Janney.
"It was a blast seeing those guys," said captain Shane Doan, who was a fresh-faced sophomore on that team. "It was weird to go from the dressing room to that room. Your place in the hierarchy kind of drops quickly."
Fortunately for the Coyotes, they kept the spirit of the night alive on the ice. Tobias Rieder and B.J. Crombeen scored and the Coyotes rebounded after blowing a late lead to win, 3-2 in a shootout on Sam Gagner's goal.
Reminder MT @davest4yotes @89SGagner played for Coral Gables Coyotes as a kid in Fla/wore replica Kachina jerseys. pic.twitter.com/U1vDsprriX
— FOX Sports Arizona (@FOXSPORTSAZ) March 6, 2015
With the victory, Arizona avoided setting a dubious franchise record. The Coyotes ended a 10-game skid, which was the longest since the team moved to the Valley and tied two such streaks set while the franchise was still in Winnipeg. The victory also snapped the Coyotes' record nine-game losing streak at home.
The Coyotes hadn't won at home since a 4-1 victory over Winnipeg on Jan. 4 and they hadn't won a game at all since a 3-2 shootout win at Chicago on Feb. 9.
"It was a release," said goalie Mike Smith, who made 32 saves. "It's been a long time coming and it's obviously been some frustrating times through the last few months but we did a lot of good things to give us a chance to win tonight."
The standings watchers will no doubt lament the Coyotes earned two points, moving them six ahead of Buffalo and three ahead of Edmonton in the quest to draft either Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel. But the Coyotes needed this one badly.
"We had to play well to do that, so the relief is seeing the guys play well,' Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. "We played well and Smitty played well and some of the new guys I thought played very well. ... It was a good feeling."
The Coyotes nearly blew that feeling after grabbing a 2-0 lead after two periods. Arizona failed to convert several breakaways that could have put the game away in regulation, including two by Doan.
"I don't know when it's going to go in, hopefully soon because it's getting ridiculous," said Doan, who hasn't scored in his last 11 games. "I had more than my ample share tonight."
Vancouver left winger Chris Higgins scored on a backhand at the 12:21 mark of the third period to draw the Canucks within a goal. A familiar face drew Vancouver even with 54 seconds left.
Playing his first game back in the Valley since leaving this past offseason to sign a two-year, $10 million deal with the Canucks, Radim Vrbata sent a shot from the point through traffic that bounced off defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and trickled through Smith to tie the game.
Vrbata also had the Canucks' best chance in the shootout, but he admitted to a little bit of over thinking against his former team, which had seen his patented backhander many times in practice.
"I think everybody was waiting for that backhander," said Vrbata, who hit the right post on his attempt. "I just felt that I should do something else against him and it almost worked."
The Coyotes were happy it did not.
"Winning is fun," Tippett said. "If you're miserable winning then you're just miserable all the time."
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