Hutton puts Vancouver Canucks past Arizona Coyotes in OT

After falling behind 2-0, the Vancouver Canucks rallied to tie in the second period, before Hutton scored on an overtime penalty shot.

The Vancouver Canucks managed yet another comeback win, this time against the Arizona Coyotes.

Before the game, Vancouver was the 29th-place team in the NHL, and the Coyotes were 30th.

This was one of the few good matchups for this year’s Canucks team, so they absolutely needed to secure a win.

And win they did, with goals from Brandon Sutter, Daniel Sedin and Ben Hutton in overtime.

Final Score:

Canucks Score First, Which is Against the Rules

The only thing rarer than a Canucks win is the Canucks scoring the first goal.

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This game, they did just that. Alexander Edler beat goaltender Louis Domingue on a point shot that may have tipped off of Brendan Gaunce.

However, the officials consulted the rulebook and found that it is, in fact, illegal for the Canucks to score first.

Actually, Coyotes coach Dave Tippett challenged the goal for goaltender interference. The replay showed that Michael Chaput had run into Domingue’s stick while skating across the crease to screen the goalie.

The referees waved the goal off, and Tippett won the challenge.

The Goals that Actually Counted:

Arizona opened the scoring — for real, this time — shortly thereafter.

Former Canuck Brad Richardson fired a shot, which caught Edler’s skate and deflected over the shoulder of Jacob Markstrom:

Two tough breaks, and the Canucks went from scoring the first goal to surrendering the first goal. But everyone in Vancouver is used to that by now, so maybe that’s for the best.

Halfway through the second period, the Coyotes doubled their lead on the powerplay:

Another tough sequence for Edler. First, he spun and fell in the corner trying to check two Arizona players by himself. Then, he had to fill in as the goalie when Markstrom overcommitted to Martin Hanzal at the side of the goal.

Hanzal centered the puck and Anthony DeAngelo beat Edler into the empty net.

The Canucks finally got on the board exactly five minutes later, at 15:45 of the second.

At the end of a dominant shift for the first line, Daniel threw a no-look drop pass into the slot for Sutter, who buried it for his fourth of the year:

Before the period ended, those two would combine for another goal. This time, Sutter found Daniel on the powerplay:

Is Willie Desjardins on to something with this Sedin-Sutter line? The trio combined for four points and eleven shots on the night.

Overtime Magic

Neither team scored in a back-and-forth third period. Both teams had to win in the last minute of regulation. Another former Canuck, Radim Vrbata, was stopped by Markstrom on a shot from the slot.

Vancouver then turned the puck up ice on a two-on-one. Baertschi managed to get a shot off before the buzzer, but Domingue made the save to send the game to overtime.

Halfway through overtime, Dylan Strome hooked Hutton on a breakaway. Hutton was awarded a penalty shot.

And just look at what he did with it:

Earlier in the day, Hutton had been on TSN 1040, explaining to Matt Sekeres and Blake Price that he was disappointed in his start to the season.

A goal that pretty should put the smile back on Hutty’s face — if it ever left.

Fallen Forwards

Both teams lost a player to injury during the game. Derek Dorsett played only a few shifts before leaving the game with an upper-body injury.

In the second period, Richardson was also injured on a strange play.

As the Coyotes played the puck into corner of the Canucks zone, Nikita Tryamkin lined up Richardson for a hit near the boards. As the Arizona forward turned, he appeared to stumble just before the hit, and fell forward.

Related Story: Tryamkin Making NHL Progress

The hulking Tryamkin ended up falling on top of the sprawling Richardson, who stayed crumpled on the ice long after the play. Medical staff from both teams attended to him for close to ten minutes, before taking him off the ice on a stretcher.

Initially, it looked like Tryamkin may have hit Richardson with a high stick. But as he was taken off the ice, the medical staff were attending to his right leg. Looking at the replay, it appears Richardson may have injured his leg at the last second before being hit:

Richardson was taken to hospital, and the Coyotes confirmed he may have a significant lower-body injury.

Once a Canuck, always a Canuck. Get well soon, Brad Richardson

A Bounce-back Effort

After the New York Rangers beat them up and took their lunch money, the Canucks responded well against the Coyotes.

They peppered Domingue with 42 shots, won 64% of their faceoffs, and even netted an elusive powerplay goal.

Next: Canucks Should Try Horvat with the Sedins

Markstrom, who allowed all seven goals last game, finished with 32 saves on the evening.

The Vancouver Canucks avoided becoming the last-place team in the NHL, by beating the last-place team. They are back in action Saturday night against the Chicago Blackhawks.