VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -Kevin Bieksa scored 12 minutes into the game and Roberto Luongo made 28 saves for his second straight shutout as the Vancouver Canucks beat the Phoenix Coyotes 1-0 on Thursday night.
Luongo made his best stops early and late, a shorthanded breakaway stop on Garth Murray in the opening minutes, and a dramatic glove save on Ed Jovanovki's blast with 25.2 seconds left and the Phoenix net empty for an extra attacker.
It was Luongo's third shutout in five games and league-leading fourth overall. He made 28 saves to blank Nashville on Tuesday and Los Angeles last Friday.
Ilya Bryzgalov made 31 saves for the Coyotes, who continued a seven-game pattern of alternating losses and wins.
After Daniel Sedin hit the post twice in the first three minutes, Bieksa joined the rush to create a 3-on-2 that became a 2-on-1 after Ryan Kesler drew a defender to him before passing off to Alex Burrows. Bieksa buried Burrow's cross-ice pass with a 20-foot wrist shot before Bryzgalov could get across his crease.
Bryzgalov kept Phoenix in the game with a handful of brilliant saves - the best a sliding glove stop to take away an empty net from Mason Raymond midway through the second period. He also stopped Raymond's shot on a 3-on-1 with three minutes left.
Luongo got a break when Peter Meuller's shot on the power play deflected off the post with five minutes left in the first period. He also forced Stephen Reinprecht to shoot wide alone in tight with 30 seconds left in the first, but wasn't tested for 13:45 of the second as the Coyotes failed to register a shot until they were on a power play.
Luongo was forced to make nine saves over the final six minutes of the second period. He also stopped Olli Jokinen twice in tight on power-play rebounds early in the third, and Viktor Tikhonov on a shorthanded 2-on-1 with seven minutes left.
Luongo, who hasn't given up a goal in just over seven periods, set a franchise record with three straight shutouts - 210 minutes, 34 seconds - last season.
The Canucks have won four of five.
Notes: Nineteen-year-old Phoenix rookie Kyle Turris, the third overall pick in the 2007 draft, was a healthy scratch for a second straight game despite saying before the game he expected up to 100 friends and family for what would have been his first NHL game in his hometown. ... Canucks D Lawrence Nycholat, who has only played three of 14 games this season, was sent to Manitoba of the AHL on a conditioning assignment. ... A reporter from Denmark was on hand to chronicle what would have been the first NHL game between two Danish players, but had to settle for Coyotes rookie Mikkel Boedker because Canucks rookie Jannik Hansen has a groin injury.
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