Coyotes put aside Utah relocation talk with win over Canucks

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Logan Cooley scored 3:50 into overtime and the Arizona Coyotes beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 on Wednesday night.

Dylan Guenther — who turned 21 on Wednesday — helped out on the play and finished with a goal and three assists for the Coyotes. Vladislav Kolyachonok had a goal and an assist, Josh Brown also scored, and Connor Ingram finished with 23 saves.

The Coyotes made headlines earlier Wednesday when reports emerged that the NHL is working on contingency plans in case the team is moved to Salt Lake City in the offseason.

The NHL has been working on two schedule drafts for next season in case the team is in Arizona or playing under a different name in Utah, according to a person familiar with the planning.

“We came together as a group,” Cooley said. “We put the rest aside, just had fun. … We need to stick together as a group and that’s what we did.”

Elias Pettersson, Conor Garland and J.T. Miller scored for the Pacific Division-leading Canucks, and Quinn Hughes had three assists. Arturs Silovs made 14 saves.

“We made a push at the end,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said. “Too many missed shots. I didn’t think we went to the net first two periods. Third period we had urgency. … You get the point out it, try to be positive.”

Vancouver saw its lead over Edmonton in the division shrink to four points. Edmonton has two games in hand and will host the Canucks on Saturday.

Arizona went on the power play 1:45 into overtime after Brock Boeser was called for tripping Guenther. Seconds after the penalty ended, Guenther sent a shot to the net and Cooley batted it in for his 19th of the season.

Guenther has 15 goals and 16 assists in 42 games since being called up from Tucson of the AHL in January.’

“He played the game the right way,” Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny said. “He has great value, and he will be a great leader on our team.”

After falling behind 3-1 in the third period, the Canucks made a late rally and forced overtime.

Garland cut the Coyotes’ lead to one with 8:42 left in the third, getting a pass from Nils Hoglander and firing a wrist shot past Ingram from the bottom of the faceoff circle for his 19th.

Vancouver tied it with a power-play goal exactly 5 minutes later. With Arizona’s Michael Kesselring in the box for interference, Hughes sliced a pass to Pettersson and the Swedish center fired a one-timer in for his 34th goal of the season.

Vancouver went 1-for-4 with the man advantage, while Arizona was 0-for-5.

The Coyotes opened the scoring 5:46 into the second. Guenther’s shot bounced off of Silovs’ pad to Brown in the faceoff circle and he snapped a shot in past the goalie from the dot to make it 1-0.

The Canucks tied it with 1:28 left in the second when Miller backhanded in a rebound from the top of the crease for his 36th. It extended his point streak to nine games, with three goals and nine assists across the stretch.

Arizona went back ahead just 56 seconds later as Kolyachonok fired a long shot through traffic and the puck hit Canucks forward Dakota Joshua in the high slot before sailing in past Silovs for his first goal of the season in his second game. Kolyachonok was a late addition to the lineup, sliding in for Maksymilian Szuber, who was sent down to Tucson of the AHL earlier Wednesday.

The Coyotes boosted their cushion to two goals at 1:55 of the third when Cooley picked the puck off the stick of Hughes below the goal line and flicked it to Guenther, stationed at the top of the crease. The forward snapped a shot in for his 15th.

Canucks center Elias Lindholm returned to the lineup after missing seven games with a wrist injury. He skated on the third line with Phillip Di Giuseppe and Ilya Mikheyev.

“He played hard tonight,” Tocchet said. “It’s a good step for him.”

UP NEXT

Coyotes: At Edmonton on Friday night in the fourth of a five-game trip.

Canucks: At Edmonton on Saturday night.

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