In Glendale Thursday night, Clayton Keller scored the go ahead goal for a 2-1 Coyotes lead en route to a 4-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks.
“We had a good forecheck there, and I was lucky it went right off his skate to my stick and I kind of shot it in the five-hole,” Keller said. “It’s definitely a shot I like to do.”
Brad Richardson and Lawson Crouse scored shorthanded goals to pad the lead late.
Darcy Kuemper made 27 saves to pick up the win.
“He’s really confident back there. He looks big in net right now,” said Alex Goligoski, who had a goal in the Arizona win. “When a goalie looks big, he’s playing confident. He’s been great for us.”
The Coyotes improved to 4-5-0.
“There was urgency in that we had a chance tonight to get close to .500,” Arizona head coach Rick Tocchet said. “Was this a must-win? In our eyes, this was a game we needed. I liked that while we were sloppy in the first two periods, our players dug in in the third period.”
Darren Archibald scored the lone Canucks goal.
The Canucks have five regulars out of the lineup for injuries.
“To get guys coming in and out of the lineup early in the season, it is tough,” forward Bo Horvat said. “But at the same time, we’ve got to find a way to win games. It was tough to not get two points here.”
[WATCH: All Canucks vs. Coyotes highlights]
Anders Nilsson made 26 saves in the losing effort.
“I thought we played good hockey, I thought we were pushing,” Vancouver head coach Travis Green said. “Even after the [Keller] goal, we made a strong push …. for a back-to-back game, and playing a team that’s playing well.”
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