Horvat scores twice, Canucks defeat Coyotes in OT

VANCOUVER -- Bo Horvat scored his second power-play goal with 51 seconds left in overtime to give the Vancouver Canucks a 3-2 win against the Arizona Coyotes at Rogers Arena on Saturday.

The Canucks captain deflected a one-timer from Quinn Hughes in the slot for his 19th goal of the season, which is third in the NHL behind Connor McDavid of Edmonton Oilers (21) and Jason Robertson of the Dallas Stars (22).
"When you lose a couple in a row, you need your captain to step up and do the job," Vancouver coach Bruce Boudreau said. "And he stepped up and did the job."

Brock Boeser also scored, Hughes and Elias Pettersson each had two assists, and Spencer Martin made 21 saves for the Canucks (10-12-3), who won for the first time in three games.
Christian Fischer and Jakob Chychrun scored, and Karel Vejmelka made 29 saves for the Coyotes (7-12-3), who are 1-5-3 in their past nine games.
"Just way too many penalties," Chychrun said. "It seems to be a theme for us lately, so we have to just find a way to stay out of the box. You just shoot yourself in the foot when you do that, so got to be a little more disciplined."
Boeser tied it 2-2 at 11:48 of the third period, scoring glove side from the left circle on a rush. Boeser was slated to be a healthy scratch for the first time since his rookie season in 2017-18, but he played in place of Dakota Joshua, who sustained a minor injury before the game.
"It was a lot of emotions. Obviously, it's a really [lousy] feeling and you don't want to be in that position," Boeser said. "When I got the call, I knew I needed to make a difference, and I can't ever put myself in that position again."

Boeser wore a jersey honoring his late father, Duke, who died in May, in warmups for the Canucks' Hockey Fights Cancer night. He said he had the date circled on his calendar, making the planned scratch even worse.
"It hurt hard and it hurt bad," said Boeser, who got a call at 3 p.m. that he was back in the lineup. "So when I got the call, it was a moment. Everything happens for a reason. I knew I needed to make the most of it. … It felt really good, and obviously it's a night that means a lot to me and my family. So I'm just happy I got in, and to be able to score was the cherry on top."
Vejmelka stopped Pettersson on a partial breakaway with 15 seconds left in the third period and Boeser in alone two minutes into overtime.
"Really key saves at crunch time, for sure," Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny said.

Fischer put Arizona ahead 1-0 on a breakaway at 11:22 of the first period, but Horvat tied it 1-1 at 16:49 with a deflection in the slot on the power play.
Chychrun made it 2-1 at 1:52 of the second period, scoring from the top of the left face-off circle through a screen on the power play. The goal came 18 seconds into the power play after winning the face-off.
Vancouver beat Vejmelka twice before the period ended, but neither counted. Nils Hoglander's wrist shot was erased by a J.T. Miller hooking penalty, and Nils Aman's rebound goal was called off because the net was knocked off.
The Canucks failed to get a shot on a 5-on-3 for 1:19 before the second period ended. Vancouver finished 2-for-8 on the power play.
"We left a point on the table. Our game at 5-on-5 was pretty good, but too penalties," Tourigny said. "It's a team on the other side who feed off either turnovers or their power play, so we gave them a chance. If you give them eight power plays, a 5-on-3, chances they will win are pretty high."
NOTES: Arizona forward Lawson Crouse returned after missing one game because of illness and had two shots in 17:21 of ice time. … Canucks defenseman Luke Schenn had six hits to reach 2,947 in his career, passing Brooks Orpik (2,946) for the most by a defenseman since the NHL began tracking the stat in 2007-08.