Big or small, the Arizona Coyotes needed a win on Wednesday night and they got it when Darcy Kuemper made 36 saves in a 4-2 win over the host Vancouver Canucks.
The win pushed the Coyotes into a tie for the first wild card spot in the Western Conference.
Darcy Kuemper got the big win for the Coyotes in Vancouver – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
Nick Schmaltz and Lawson Crouse struck for goals in a three-=goal third period for Arizona.
“We need these points, they are huge chasing these teams in the standings, so it was kind of like a do or die,” Schmaltz said. “We battled hard and [Kuemper] was there when we needed him.”
Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson scored for the Canucks in the final frame to give them a brief 2-1 lead in the game.
“It doesn’t feel good to lose, especially against a team in our division,” Canucks’ Bo Horvat said. “There is a lot of hockey left to play. We have to shake it off.”
Carl Soderberg scored and Oliver Ekman-Larsson potted an empty net goal for the Coyotes.
“We’re a desperate group and we’re playing some desperate hockey right now,” Crouse said. “We held our composure and we started pouring it on their defense and hanging in, staying in piles and that was a key to it. We just got pucks to the net and stayed around the net and they went in for us.”
[WATCH: All Coyotes vs. Canucks highlights]
Thatcher Demko made 36 saves in the loss.
“We are kind of shooting ourselves in the foot,” Pearson said. “We need to do the opposite. We need to put our foot down and stomp on their throats.”
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