Former Arizona Coyotes forward Conor Garland came up clutch with a late regulation goal as he propelled the Vancouver Canucks to a 2-1 win on Wednesday night.
Garland and Canucks (47-21-8) captain Quinn Hughes both scored. Arturs Silovs made 20 saves in the victory for Vancouver, bumping them up to No. 2 in the Western Conference with 102 points in the standings.
Dylan Guenther netted the lone Coyotes (31-39-5) goal while Connor Ingram posted a 31-save performance.
Ingram kept the Coyotes in the game as Vancouver poured everything they could on the net. Showing a response, the Canucks were coming off of a 6-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in which they were down 4-1 in the first period Tuesday night.
The Canucks mounted pressure in the offensive zone before Hughes fired a shot through traffic in front of Ingram, scoring his 16th goal of the season for a 1-0 lead. Before the first goal at 9:43 of the second period, Vancouver was outshooting Arizona 16-5.
The goaltender battle continued as Silovs did the splits to stop a one-timer before Ingram came up large with multiple, crucial saves.
Even though the shot total would enlarge to 27-9 in favor of the Canucks near the midway point of the third, it would turn physical for both teams. Vancouver outhit the Coyotes 44-32 overall.
But to finally find a breakthrough past Silovs, Guenther tied the game 1-1 after tic-tac-toe play between him, Clayton Keller and Alex Kerfoot at 10:46 of the third.
With just 1:51 left in the final period, however, Hughes sent a shot that missed the net and ricocheted off the boards. Pouncing on the puck, Garland buried the rebound over a sprawling Ingram for the eventual game-winner against his former team.
Next Games
Coyotes: Home vs. Vegas Golden Knights (42-25-8) on April 5 at 7 p.m. PT
Canucks: Away vs. Los Angeles Kings (39-25-11) on April 6 at 7 p.m. PT
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