The attacking forward counted five assists as the Canoks defeated the Arizona Coyotes 7-1 on Thursday. The night of five points was a top career for Miller, who leads Vancouver to score with 91 points (29 goals, 62 assists) this season. “I try to feel that I am never satisfied,” he said. “I have an amazing opportunity since I’m here, I have to play in every situation, something I have worked on for my whole career. “But saying that does not really mean (much) to me if we do not play in the playoffs. “I really want to play in the playoffs because when you score in the playoffs it means a lot.” Thursday’s result extended Vancouver’s winning streak to five consecutive games and maintained the team’s dim hopes of securing a place in the playoffs. The Cannons (37-28-10) are five points behind the Nashville Predators and Dallas Stars, who hold the two wilderness positions in the Western Conference. Ten different Kanooks players entered the pitch on Thursday, with rookie Vasily Podkolzin scoring two goals and assisting, Alex Chiasson scoring twice and Sheldon Dries, Elias Petterson and Conor Garland scoring one goal each. Quinn Hughes scored three assists. Andrew Ladd responded for the Coyotes (22-47-5), who lost their fifth straight. Despite the final score, Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said he liked the way his team played in the third period. “I think we showed more pride in the third period,” he said. “For me, this is our team. This is the way we must fight. “We talked about it before the game and we improved on it, so that’s positive.” It was a relatively quiet night in the net for Thatcher Demko, who made 21 saves to win. Arizona Karel Vejmelka stopped 16 of 22 shots before being replaced by Harri Sateri to start the third period. Sateri made four saves as a relief. It was the third game in a row that Veimelka scored six goals. “The NHL is full of recession for me,” Tourigny told netminder. “You have to be able to react to a recession. If you can not get out of a recession in the NHL, you have a problem. You will be a player with streaks. The NHL is not for that. The point is to be good every day. It is a matter of consistency. Vancouver entered the third place with a dominant lead and continued to raise the score with Chiasson scoring his second account of the night in the middle of the season. Miller gave the veteran forward a brilliant pass and he passed a one-meter on the side of Satter’s stick at 8:26 for his 12th goal of the year. “I have a very good opportunity here to show what I can do,” Chiasson said. “Obviously I feel I can find my points on the ice, playing with good players. “I hope this thing continues, one game at a time.” Chiasson has been a “professional all year” for the Canucks, said coach Bruce Boudreau, even in a series of three or four games where he was healthy. “He never complained, he just came to work,” Boudreau said. “To see that things are starting to go well for him, you can be really happy for the man. And we need it. The children are injured left, right and in the center and these children go up. That is part of the reason why we are still stuck with this. “ Podkolzin buried his second goal of the night with 26.6 seconds remaining in the middle frame, knocking down a meter from the faceoff cycle to give the Cannons a 6-1 lead. Garland interrupted the fifth night of the home team at 15:39 in the period, finding space between Weimelka and his crossbar with a blow to the wrist from the signs of fragmentation. Just 14 seconds earlier, Podkolzin had found the net for Vancouver’s third power-play goal in the game, after Kyle Capobianco was called off to stumble. Podkolzin pulled the elf over the box and sent a backhand over Vejmelka as he fell on the ice for his 12th goal in the campaign. Arizona climbed to the top of the table in the middle of the second game when Kessel sent a shot into the net to Vancouver’s net from the top of the circle. Demko made the stop, but the cross landed on his pads and Land shoveled over the goal line to reduce the deficit to 3-1. Pettersson added to the Canucks cushion at 4:29 in midfield after the Coyotes were called in for too many men. The Swedish star threw a one meter through the circle of faceoff for his 27th goal of the season. Vancouver lost a key piece early in the second half when Bo Horvat fired a shot from Anton Stralman from inside his right ankle. He went straight to the locker room and did not return to the game. Boudreau said he believes the Canucks captain will be OK and hopes to have him in the squad on Monday when Vancouver hosts the Dallas Stars. Horvat entered the match with a series of five games, where he collected five goals and three assists. The Canoks closed the first with a 2-0 lead. JJ Moser from Arizona was called to stumble, giving Vancouver the advantage of the second man of the night. With just a few seconds left in the power play, Brad Hunt fired a rocket from the top of the box and Dries knocked him down for his first goal with the Canucks jersey. Vancouver went 3-to-4 in the power play on Thursday and Arizona was 1-to-2. Chiasson opened the scoring with 10:19 in the game, repulsed by an elf by Miller. The index extended its points streak to five games, with four goals and four assists throughout. NOTES: The Coyotes will face the Flames in Calgary on Saturday Gar Garland has a five-game winning streak with two goals and five assists… The Canoxes have swept a series of three games between the two sides.
