Coyotes’ Nick Schmaltz scores career-high 22nd goal in loss to Canucks

GLENDALE (AP) — Bo Horvat and Alex Chiasson each had two goals and an assist and the Vancouver Canucks continued a late playoff push with a 5-1 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night.

Elias Pettersson had a goal and two assists for the Canucks, who have won two straight and earned five points in their last three games.

The Canucks have 78 points, six behind Dallas for the second wild card in the Western Conference with 10 games to play. Las Vegas has 82 points. The Stars have two games in hand on both.

Jaroslav Halak made 28 saves and is 11-3-2 in 16 career games against Arizona.

Nick Schmaltz scored his career-high 22nd goal for the Coyotes, who have lost nine of 11. Harri Sateri made 27 saves in his first game with Arizona and his 10th in the NHL, his first since Feb. 9, 2018, while with Florida. He was claimed off waivers from Toronto on March 21.

Horvat, who has his first 30-goal season, scored 38 seconds apart early in the Canucks’ three-goal second period for a 3-0 lead.

Chiasson opened and closed the scoring with power-play goals in the first and third periods, and Pettersson took a feed from Chiasson to score into an open net on a two-on-none break for for 4-1 lead at 11:12 of the second period.

Horvat has four goals in his last three games and 13 in his last 16. Pettersson had two goals in a 5-1 victory at Vegas on Wednesday and has 13 points in his last eight games.

Chiasson scored on a power play to give the Canucks a 1-0 lead three minutes into the game, tipping a cross-ice pass from Pettersson into an open right side. The Canucks have five power play goals in their last three games.

Horvat scored twice in the first 90 seconds of the second period, picking up the puck net behind the net and tucking a wraparound past Sateri just 52 seconds into the period. He scored 38 seconds later on a wrist shot from the left circle after taking a nifty back-pass from Vasily Podkolzin.

Schmaltz skated in alone and put a back-hander through Halak’s legs to make it 3-1 at 7:27 of the period. Schmaltz has 50 points, two short of his career high set with Chicago in 2017-18.

NEXT UP

Canucks: Host San Jose on Saturday.

Coyotes: At Vegas on Saturday.