SUNRISE, Fla. -- Forward Radim Vrbata stayed hot while helping the Phoenix Coyotes continue their push for the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Tuesday.
Vrbata had a goal and two assists when the Coyotes defeated the Florida Panthers 3-1 at BB&T Center. He has four goals in the past three games.
Mike Ribeiro and Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored for the Coyotes, who were coming off a 4-3 shootout victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday.
Phoenix goalie Mike Smith made 31 saves after stopping 28 shots against Tampa Bay. The Coyotes won consecutive road games for the first time since Nov. 27 and Dec. 3.
Phoenix (31-24-11) began Tuesday one point behind the Dallas Stars for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference; the Stars, who played the St. Louis Blues, have a game in hand.
Florida's Brandon Pirri scored on the power play, his first goal since being acquired in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks on March 2. Roberto Luongo made 23 saves for the Panthers (24-34-7).
The game was the first between the teams since Dec. 20, 2011, when Vrbata scored the game-winner in a 2-1 victory. The teams play again March 20 in Phoenix.
Ribeiro scored with 2:17 left in the first period on a power play. As he was skating across the front of the net, he tipped Keith Yandle's slap shot from the top of the right circle.
Phoenix's second goal also came off a shot from the point. Ekman-Larsson scored when his wrist shot found its way past Luongo with Coyotes forward Lauri Korpikoski and Panthers defenseman Ed Jovanovski jostling for position in front of the net.
Vrbata made it 3-0 5:52 into the third period when he converted a 2-on-1 after taking a cross-ice pass from Antoine Vermette.
Pirri scored at 8:54 when his slap shot went off the stick of Phoenix forward David Moss and up to beat Smith to the glove side. Pirri had a chance to cut the lead with 5:14 left, but Smith made a sliding save on his one-timer.
Each team lost a forward to injury. Phoenix's Martin Erat left the game in the first period with an upper-body injury. Florida's Sean Bergenheim sustained a lower-body injury in the second period; he
skipped the morning skate for what Panthers coach Peter Horachek called a maintenance day.
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