Conor Garland scored the tiebreaking goal with 1:51 remaining and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Arizona Coyotes 2-1 on Wednesday night.
Quinn Hughes scored on the power play midway through the second period and rookie Arturs Silvos had 22 saves as Vancouver took a seven-point lead in the Pacific Division with six games remaining.
Silvos, in just his second game of the season and eighth of his career, didn’t have much work in the first two periods as Arizona only managed eight shots.
He was called up last month to replace No. 1 goalie Thatcher Demko, who has been sidelined since March 9 with a lower-body injury but is expected back as soon as next week.
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“I thought we defended really well,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said. “It was a grinding type of game. We managed the puck really well. To keep them off the sheet, it’s tough.”
Garland grabbed the rebound of Hughes’ missed shot and fired it past Connor Ingram for the Canucks.
“He played really well,” Tocchet said of Garland. “He’s taking some responsibility when things don’t go well.
Ingram stopped 31 shots for the Coyotes, who had trouble generating any offence, managing just three shots in the first period and five in the second.
The Coyotes applied more pressure with 15 shots in the third, and Dylan Guenther tied it midway through the period with a power-play goal.
Clayton Keller had an assist on the play, extending his points streak to nine games.
“In the first two periods we struggled to break out and generate anything,” Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny. “We need to challenge ourselves, like we did in the third period.”
Josh Brown was in the penalty box for delay of game when Hughes scored on a shot from between the circles. J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson assisted on the goal, Hughes’ 16th of the season.
Hughes was called for two penalties in the second period, and during the second one, Guenther scored from short range for his 13th of the season, with Keller and Alex Kerfoot assisting.
The Canucks’ Miller and the Coyotes’ Jack McBain fought in the second period.
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