Henrik Sedin scores short-handed goal and adds 2 assists as Canucks beat Coyotes 4-1

Sedin has goal, 2 assists as Canucks top Coyotes

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Henrik Sedin scored a short-handed goal late in the second period and added two assists to regain the NHL scoring lead, and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Phoenix Coyotes 4-1 on Tuesday night.

Alex Burrows, Mason Raymond and Daniel Sedin also scored, and Roberto Luongo finished with 32 saves as the Canucks won for just the third time in seven games to move seven points ahead of Colorado atop the Northwest Division.

Radim Vrbata scored, and Ilya Bryzgalov made 25 saves for Phoenix, which lost for just the third time in 13 games (10-2-1) to remain four points behind San Jose for both the Pacific Division and Western Conference leads. The Coyotes were playing their first game since Saturday, when they clinched their first playoff berth since 2002 and the first 100-point season in franchise history.

Vancouver led 3-1 after a wild first period that had a little bit of everything despite ending a minute early, with the extra time added to the start of the second period after a pane of glass was broken behind the Canucks’ net.

Burrows opened the scoring 37 seconds after Bryzgalov waved awkwardly at his unscreened slap shot from the top of the left faceoff circle off the rush.

Raymond doubled the lead less than four minutes later, pouncing on a loose puck after being denied on a good chance earlier in the shift and cutting to the top of the left circle before firing a low wrist shot in off a defender’s leg.

The Coyotes had a great chance to come back after Vancouver center Ryan Kesler was given a five-minute major penalty and tossed out of the game for a hit from behind that left Derek Morris bleeding after hitting his head into the boards with 6:18 left in the period. Neither referee signaled a penalty at the time, but Kesler was tossed after the hit touched off a full line scrum, putting the Coyotes on a 5-on-3 for 11 seconds as part of the five-minute power play.

Vrbata scored with 3:20 left, beating a stickless Luongo high after cutting through the slot, but Vancouver regained the two-goal lead 39 seconds later.

Bryzgalov stopped the puck behind his net and threw a blind backhand pass to Henrik Sedin at the other side. He tucked in his 29th goal, and added his second assist of the game — and 104th point this season, three more than Washington’s Alex Ovechkin — on a pretty backhand pass of his own in the second period.

Shortly after Luongo made a diving stick save off Shane Doan at the other end, Sedin took a pass in the slot and made a blind, spinning backhand feed to twin brother Daniel for an easy backdoor tap-in behind a sprawled Bryzgalov.

Henrik Sedin has 10 points and Daniel has seven on their five-game point streaks.

NOTES: Canucks D Andrew Alberts took the lineup spot of Shane O’Brien, who was exiled after being late for practice Monday. Coach Alain Vigneault said there was “more to this than being tardy once, and O’Brien would not practice with the team before Sunday, or make this week s two-game road trip to California. … RW Pavol Demitra missed his fourth straight game for undisclosed personal reasons. … Mikael Samuelsson, who had nine goals in eight games before an injury to his shoulder March 16, returned to practice Monday and could play later this week. … Mark Rypien, a former Super Bowl-winning quarterback for the Washington Redskins, was in attendance to watch second-cousin Rick Rypien, a Canucks forward.