Mike Smith, Coyotes shut out Canucks

GLENDALE, Ariz. - It took 48 games but the Arizona Coyotes have a three-game winning streak and Mike Smith has a shutout to take to the 2017 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend.
The Coyotes held the Vancouver Canucks without a shot for the first 28 minutes, and Smith made 19 saves for his first shutout of the season, a 3-0 win at Gila River Arena on Thursday.

Lawson Crouse scored in the second period and Alexander Burmistrov scored on the power play in the third for the Coyotes (16-26-6), who have won three straight for the first time and five of their past six home games, including three in a row.
WATCH: All Canucks vs. Coyotes highlights
"It was pretty boring there for a period and a half but that just shows what the guys did in front of me tonight," Smith said. "We really wanted to win this game and get on a little bit of a roll. We've played a lot better as of late and we were due to be rewarded. It was a solid performance all around. It was a team shutout."
Tobias Rieder scored his third goal in three games into an empty net with 34 seconds left. It was Arizona's first empty-net goal of the season.
Ryan Miller made 28 saves for Vancouver (23-21-6) and lost for the second time in 13 games against Arizona. The Canucks had beaten the Coyotes five straight times and were 8-1-1 in the past 10 games.
"They played a great game. You have to give them a lot of credit, they came hard," forward Henrik Sedin said. "We weren't able to answer and that's why the score was what it was. This is the tightest I've seen them play in a long time. They didn't give up any outnumbered chances."
The Coyotes outshot the Canucks 6-0 in the first period. It was the fifth time in Vancouver history it did not have a shot in a period.

"No matter how well a team is playing, you should still be able to get stuff to the net," Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said. "We had some chances in the first three minutes that didn't hit the net and we didn't have much after that."
Vancouver got its first shot 8:12 into the second period when Alexandre Burrows put a long shorthanded shot on Smith from inside the Canucks blue line.
After Ryan White deflected Oliver Ekman-Larsson's shot behind the Vancouver net, Crouse scored on a wraparound at 12:56. His third goal of the season was his first in 19 games.
"I used everything I had, I think I even dove a little bit to get there," Crouse said.
Arizona made it 2-0 after Sven Baertschi got a double-minor penalty for high-sticking Christian Dvorak. Burmistrov beat Miller with a wrist shot at 4:29 of the third period.
It was Burmistrov's sixth point in six games since Arizona claimed him on waivers from the Winnipeg Jets. It was his first goal in 42 games, since March 16, 2016, when he scored for Winnipeg against Vancouver.
"If you don't score on that power play, that gives them some life and a lot of energy," Arizona coach Dave Tippett said. "That was a big goal."

Goal of the game

Crouse squeezed the puck between the post and Miller's skate to end the scoreless deadlock.

Save of the game

Just before Crouse scored, Smith was able to get a pad on a Henrik Sedin deflection at 12:39 of the second period.

Unsung performance of the game

Coyotes forward Martin Hanzal played 17:09, had a team-high six hits, won 11 of 19 faceoffs and assisted on Rieder's goal.

Highlight of the game

Miller made a save on Coyotes forward Radim Vrbata and Canucks forward Michael Chaput was able to clear the puck off Ekman-Larsson's stick, but Burmistrov was tracking the play and scored with Miller out of position.

They said it

"When you see 45 shots a night you don't have time to think about what's happening in front of you. Games like tonight can be more challenging mentally." -- Coyotes goalie Mike Smith
"We weren't good enough. For whatever reason, we usually get a better effort than that … We probably got what we deserved." -- Vancouver coach Willie Desjardins

Need to know

Coyotes forward Shane Doan played in his 1,514th NHL game, tying Steve Yzerman for the fifth-most with one franchise in NHL history. Only Gordie Howe (1,687), Niklas Lidstrom (1,564) and Alex Delvecchio (1,549) of the Detroit Red Wings and Ray Bourque of the Boston Bruins (1,518) have played more. … For the seventh time in history the Coyotes did not get called for a penalty.

What's next

Canucks: Host the San Jose Sharks on Thursday (10 p.m. ET; SNP, CSN-CA, NHL.TV)
Coyotes:Host the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET; FS-A, FS-W, NHL.TV)