Vancouver 5, Arizona 0
When: 10:00 PM ET, Thursday, April 9, 2015
Where: Rogers Arena, Vancouver, British Columbia
Referees:
Tom Kowal, Brad Meier
Linesmen:
Mark Wheler, Vaughan Rody
Attendance:
18796
By The Sports Xchange
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Defenseman Yannick Weber scored back-to-back power-play goals 1:38 apart in the second period, and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Arizona Coyotes 5-0 at Rogers Arena on Thursday night.
Goalie Eddie Lack made 28 saves for his second shutout of the season. He stopped a close-in slap shot on a breakaway by Arizona left winger Craig Cunningham with eight minutes to play.
Left winger Daniel Sedin, with his 19th goal of the season, rookie left winger Ronalds Kenins with his fourth and defenseman Dan Hamhuis with his first rounded out the Canucks' scoring.
The only thing of meaning left for Vancouver, with one game remaining, is whether they start the playoffs at home or in Calgary. Either way, the Canucks and the Flames will face off in the opening round of the Pacific Division playoffs.
With Vancouver up 2-0 and enjoying a 13-second, five-on-three power play, Weber took a return pass on the blue line from defense partner Alex Edler and let go a one-timer that beat Arizona goalie Mike Smith low to the stick side at 15:42 of the second period.
At 17:10, he took a pass from Daniel Sedin and again beat Smith with a shot from almost the exact same shot.
Smith was pulled for Louis Domingue after stopping 20 of 24 shots. Domingue saved seven of the eight shots he faced.
Kenins, a midseason call-up from the AHL, scored on a rebound after rookie center Bo Horvat, easily the Canucks' best faceoff man, got the draw cleanly back to right winger Jannik Hansen at 6:51 of the second period.
Daniel Sedin opened the scoring at 16:22 of the first, taking a long backhand drop pass from his twin brother Henrik Sedin and beating Smith over his blocker from the faceoff circle.
Hamhuis' goal, a long, high wrist shot that beat Domingue at 16:49 of the third period, made the Canucks 3-for-4 on the power play.
Vancouver was 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.
Edler finished the game with three assists, while the Sedin twins had two points apiece.
Heading into the teams' regular-season finales, the Flames are two points back of the Canucks, but hold they tiebreaker advantage should the teams both finish with 99 points, based on their head-to-head records. Calgary eliminated the defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings on Thursday.
Calgary finishes Saturday afternoon at Winnipeg, while Vancouver plays Saturday night at home against the Edmonton Oilers.
The Canucks, with 24 road wins and 24 home wins, have the fourth-best road record in the NHL.
NOTES: Vancouver extended the contracts of LW Derek Dorsett (four years) and D Luca Sbisa (three years). ... The Canucks qualified for the playoffs for the sixth time in seven years when Edmonton beat Los Angeles on Tuesday. ... Canucks LW Daniel Sedin quietly made an appearance among the top 10 scorers this week, the first time he's been in the top 10 since he won the NHL scoring race in 2011. ... The Coyotes had won just five games in their preceding 26 (4-21-1), one of them a 3-2 shootout victory over the Canucks on March 5 in Phoenix. ... Canucks G Ryan Miller dressed for the first time since he injured a knee on Feb. 22 at the New York Islanders. G Jacob Markstrom (1-1-0, 3.08 GAA, .879 SV percent) was returned to the AHL Utica Comets. ... C Shawn Matthias was an injury scratch for Vancouver, RW Shane Doan was for Phoenix.
Top Game Performances
Arizona |
|
Vancouver |
N/A |
Points |
Alexander Edler 3 |
N/A |
Goals |
Yannick Weber 2 |
N/A |
Assists |
Alexander Edler 3 |
N/A |
Power Play Goals |
Yannick Weber 2 |
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
Louis Domingue .875 |
Save Percentage |
Eddie Lack 1.000 |
Mike Smith 20 |
Saves |
Eddie Lack 28 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
Arizona
|
28 |
0 |
0-4 |
1-4 |
10 |
31 |
Vancouver
|
32 |
5 |
3-4 |
4-4 |
10 |
24 |
Upcoming Games
-
Vancouver will play their next game at home against Edmonton. The Canucks have a W/L % of .511 after a win and .676 after a loss.
-
Arizona will play their next game at home against Anaheim. The Coyotes have a W/L % of .333 after a win and .281 after a loss.