Arizona Coyotes leapfrog Vancouver Canucks, hurt draft odds with win

The Coyotes’ matchup with the Canucks on Thursday had no impact on the top of the NHL standings, but it wasn’t insignificant at the bottom.

A 4-3 win at Gila River Arena by Arizona flipped it over Vancouver and into 28th from its previous perch at 29 for the first time since Dec. 15.

Since the start of the team’s first three-game win streak Jan. 21, the Coyotes have banked 38 points – going 17-15-4 for the second-highest total among teams that have been eliminated from playoff contention.

“You want to be winning,” winger Radim Vrbata said. “You want to have that good feeling going into the summer and know that you can win early next year when the team comes back. There’s not much to play, but there’s lots of young guys who want to improve, lots of guys playing for their contract. So we want to do things right, and we’ve done that – not in all games of late, but we’ve played some good games the last two months.”

BOX SCORE: Coyotes 4, Canucks 3

While this second-half surge highlights the growth the team hoped for and expected as players, young and experienced, settled into roles, it’s also come to the point where it could hurt the organization’s odds in the draft lottery – which can emerge as one of the silver linings of a poor season once the schedule concludes.

But the Coyotes aren’t worrying about that scenario.

They’re focused on trying to end the season on a win streak.

“We have to continue to improve in the second half, and our younger players – there were some times earlier in the season that we really struggled,” coach Dave Tippett said. “But the second half, those young players have grown, and they’ve learned how to play in the league and be competitive in the league. Our goal is to continue to improve the second half. I think we have, and the standings fall where they may.”

Among the latest highlights: Vrbata scored twice to reach the 20-goal plateau for the sixth time (fifth with the Coyotes), center Alexander Burmistrov extended his point streak to four games and defenseman Luke Schenn scored his first goal of the season. Between the pipes, Louis Domingue made 26 saves in his last scheduled start of the season to improve to 6-1 in his past seven starts.

Schenn opened the scoring six minutes into the first period after pinching deep to whack a puck by Vancouver goalie Ryan Miller.

“Obviously, it would have been nice to get one earlier in the year,” Schenn said. “I feel like I’ve had a few shots and a few opportunities. Just couldn’t get one. It was funny. I mentioned to Tip in the pregame skate in Dallas the other day, I said, ‘If it gets to Game 82, I might have to go net-front on the power play here. I can’t go a whole season without one.’ He was having a little laugh. Thankfully it’s not coming to that.”

The Canucks tied it 1:51 later on a Nikolay Goldobin one-timer before the Coyotes regained the lead 55 seconds into the second when Vrbata put back a bounce off the end boards.

Later in the period, Burmistrov redirected a slap-pass by defenseman Alex Goligoski on the power play at 9:40. During his four-game point streak, Burmistrov has four goals and five points.

“I feel pretty comfortable right now,” Burmistrov said. “I think right now I can show what I can do. I’m trying to do my best.”

MORE:Clayton Keller grateful for short stint with Coyotes

Vrbata added another power-play goal at 16:11 when his shot trickled through traffic and over the goal line.

“It’s something that I was hoping I could get when I got that 17th or 18th goal,” he said of scoring 20. “I got it tonight, and I don’t have to think about it much the last game.”

Winger Max Domi, who missed a penalty shot in the third, assisted on both power-play goals, and the unit finished 2-for-3. The Canucks were 1-for-3 with their lone tally coming 1:47 into the third when winger Brock Boeser buried a loose puck. A Daniel Sedin shot moved the Canucks within 1 at 12:40.

“We just want to win just like every other game,” Tippett said. “We want to try and go and win. We’re putting our lineup out there that we think we can win it. That’s how we’ve pushed this last little while. We want to be an honest, hard-working team that’s going to compete right to the end. That’s what we’re thinking about.”

By jumping up to 28th, the Coyotes’ currently have the third-best odds of landing the No. 1 pick in the draft lottery at 10.3 percent, according to tankathon.com. Las Vegas, the league’s newest franchise that will debut next season in the Pacific Division, will also have the same chance of winning the lottery as the team that finishes 28th.

The last-place Avalanche have the best odds at 17.9 percent with the Canucks now at 12.1 percent.

“You want to finish as high as you can, and we’re hockey players,” forward Jordan Martinook said. “We want to win every time we go on the ice. It’s no different looking at the standings. You just want to win.”

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Key player

Coyotes winger Radim Vrbata scored twice to reach the 20-goal plateau.

Key moment

Vrbata scored his second on the power play at 16:11 of the second period to put the Coyotes up 4-1.

Key number

2 power-play goals by the Coyotes.

View from the press box

Defenseman Luke Schenn scored his first goal of the season in Game No. 80 and snapped a personal 99-game drought. Schenn is a hard-nosed, tough-to-play-against defenseman, so chipping in at the other end isn’t usually expected of him. But putting the puck in the net is still a nice feeling. “He was very aware that he hadn’t scored yet this year,” coach Dave Tippett said. “When I looked up and saw No. 2 right at the top of the crease, I could understand why.”