Jim Vandermeer scored 78 seconds into overtime to give the Phoenix Coyotes a 3-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday. Vandermeer's game-winner, his second goal of the match, deflected off the Ducks defenceman Nick Boynton and trickled past netminder Jean-Sebastien Giguere. Ryan Getzlaf's power-play goal in the second period gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead before Vandermeer scored his first of the game six minutes into the third.
Matthew Lombardi gave Phoenix a 2-1 lead midway through the period but Bobby Ryan redirected a shot by Boynton past former Duck netminder Ilya Bryzgalov with less than two minutes left to force overtime. "We got ahead and stopped skating in the third," Ryan said. "They dominated the third period. Jiggy [Giguere] made a lot of saves early that you think would depress them at some point and get under their skin, but it didn't. They just kept hanging around."
Anaheim, who were looking for their fourth win in a row, remain mired at the bottom of the Pacific division standings, while the win moved the Coyotes within a point of second-placed Los Angeles. "We found a way to get a point at the end in the last two minutes, so we should be happy about that," Giguere said. "The game didn't go exactly the way we wanted. We know what we did wrong and what we did well."
Bryzgalov made 26 saves for Phoenix with Giguere stopping 23 for Anaheim. In the day's other game, the Pacific-leading San Jose Sharks recorded an impressive 4-2 road victory over the Vancouver Canucks. Goals 13 seconds apart from Manny Malhotra and Jamie McGinn with less than three minutes left sealed the win for the visitors. "In a tight game we believe we have four lines that can play and contribute every night," said the Sharks centre Joe Thornton, who extended his point streak to eight games when he recorded an assist. "Lately obviously our line has been doing a lot of the work, but we got guys that can score goals and change games on the second, third and fourth lines as well and you could see it tonight."
The Pittsburgh Penguins forward Matt Cooke has been suspended for two games for a "deliberate check to the head area" of the New York Rangers' Artem Anisimov. Cooke was assessed a minor penalty for the hit, which occurred during the third period of the Penguins' 8-3 victory Saturday in Pittsburgh. He missed last night's game against the Rangers in New York and will not play against Colorado on Thursday.
Anisimov, a 21-year-old centre, had to leave the game after the check and did not return. * With agencies