Canucks trounce Coyotes, keep playoff hopes alive

VANCOUVER — J.T. Miller tallied a career-high five assists and the Vancouver Canucks dominated the Arizona Coyotes 7-1 on Thursday.

The result extended the Canucks' win streak to five straight games and preserved Vancouver's faint hopes of securing a playoff position. The team sits five points below the Nashville Predators and Dallas Stars, who hold the two Western Conference wild-card spots.

Rookie Vasily Podkolzin had two goals and an assist, Alex Chiasson scored twice, and Sheldon Dries, Elias Pettersson and Conor Garland all added goals for the Canucks (37-28-10). Quinn Hughes notched three helpers.

Andrew Ladd replied for the Coyotes (22-47-5), who lost their fifth straight.

It was a relatively quiet night in net for Thatcher Demko, who made 21 saves for the win.

Arizona's Karel Vejmelka stopped 16-of-22 shots before being replaced by Harri Sateri to start the third period. Sateri made four saves in relief.

Vancouver came into the third with a dominant lead and continued to run up the score with Chiasson netting his second tally of the night midway through the period.

Miller dished a slick pass to the veteran forward and he blasted a one-timer past Sateri stick side at the 8:26 mark for his 12th goal of the year.

Miller's five-point night marked a career high. The 29-year-old forward leads Vancouver in scoring this season with 91 points (29 goals, 62 assists).

Podkolzin buried his second goal of the night with 26.6 seconds left in the middle frame, blasting a one-timer from the faceoff circle to give the Canucks a 6-1 lead.

Garland put away the home side's fifth of the night 15:39 into the period, finding space between Vejmelka and his post with a wrist shot from the hash marks.

Just 14 seconds earlier, Podkolzin