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GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Radim Vrbata and Antoine Vermette scored first-period goals, and Mike Smith made 22 saves to lead the Phoenix Coyotes to a 2-1 win against the Florida Panthers on Thursday.
The Panthers made things interesting when Scott Gomez spoiled Smith's shutout bid with a wrist shot that knuckled into the net with 4:08 left in the third period to cut the Coyotes' lead to 2-1.
The win gave Phoenix three straight victories for the first time in more than four months. The Coyotes have won seven of the past nine games - all with Smith in goal.
The Coyotes didn't get many style points with the win, but they moved four points clear of the Dallas Stars for the second wild-card spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Western Conference. Dallas lost 4-2 to the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.
The Coyotes hadn't won more than two straight games since winning five in a row from Oct. 26-Nov. 5.
Roberto Luongo made 20 saves for the Panthers, who were 2-0-1 in their past three games. The loss was Florida's second in nine days to Phoenix.
The Coyotes' Czech forward trio of Martin Erat, Martin Hanzal and Vrbata were all healthy for the first time since Erat was acquired in a trade with the Washington Capitals on March 4. They played together on a line, and after Florida's Jimmy Hayes was penalized for hooking 1:56 into the game, two of the three new linemates combined to get Phoenix on the board.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson's shot from the high point caught Hanzal on the left instep in the slot. But the puck bounced right to Vrbata, who beat Luongo for his 20th goal and fifth in the past eight games at 2:56.
The goal was the 31st allowed by Florida's penalty kill on the road this season, worst in the NHL.
The Coyotes didn't muster a shot on goal for the next 14 minutes, but doubled the lead late in the period. With Luongo trapped by a battle in the crease between Phoenix's Mikkel Boedker and Florida's Dylan Olsen, Vermette pushed home his own rebound at 18:38 to give Phoenix a 2-0 lead for the fifth time in the past 10 games.
Vermette's team-leading 23rd goal was his first in eight games.
It stayed 2-0 until Gomez ruined Smith's bid for a fourth shutout in the past 21 games with his second goal of the season and first in his past 36 games; Gomez had not scored a goal since opening night.
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