In Tempe, the Canucks’ Connor Garland corralled a shot/pass from Quinn Hughes off the backboards with 1:51 left on the game clock to snap a 1-1 tie with the Coyotes and send Vancouver to a 2-1 win on Wednesday night. 
“It was a big goal by ‘Gars’ there. He loves [Arizona]. He loves playing here,” said Canucks coach Rick Tocchet, who coached Garland in Arizona from 2018-21.
Arturs Silovs made 20 saves in the win.
The Canucks moved to 47-21-8, getting back on track after losing three of their last four.
“We rebounded. We played really well tonight and we deserved to win that game,” Garland said. “We had a good talk with the group after the game last night. We weren’t happy with ourselves but we felt like we were going to put forth a good effort tonight.”
After a scoreless opening stanza, Hughes hit off the power play midway through the second period for a 1-0 lead to the Canucks. He scored off a wrister form the point that found its way through.
“I’m going to definitely try [to elevate my play down the stretch],” Hughes said. “That’s what I expect for myself. I think I’m really getting there. I’m playing some really serious hockey.”
It was his third marker in two games.
“He played really well. He was moving his feet all night and he controlled a lot of the play,” Tocchet said. “And he obviously made a great play on the Garland goal.”
The Coyotes dropped to 31-39-5 off their second straight loss.
“We didn’t play well enough, we didn’t play fast enough. They’re very good defensively, and we weren’t able to break that,” Guenther said. “They’re stingy on the lines and we have to be able to get through them sometimes. Not every game we’re going to get a ton of chances. I thought we played well defensively, they just played a little faster, a little more connected.”
Arizona got on the board with a power play strike by Dylan Guenther s midway through the third period, scoring with a quick wrister from the slot.
“We [finally] made some plays with the puck,” Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said. “The first two periods we struggled to make passes on our breakouts. If you don’t break out with some pace, it’s tough to generate anything. … Our play with the puck forced us to play too much without the puck.”
Connor Ingram made 31 saves in the loss.

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