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GLENDALE, Ariz. -- After three seasons as teammates on the Arizona Coyotes, Radim Vrbata knows how good goalie Mike Smith can be when he's on top of his game.
Smith was that good on Sunday when he made 41 saves, but defenseman Alexander Edler scored a power-play goal that banked off the post, off Smith and trickled across the goal line with 3:13 left and the Canucks spoiled Smith's 33rd birthday in a 3-1 win at Gila River Arena.
"I've seen him play that game many times. But it was a lot better, a lot more fun when I was on his side," said Vrbata, who assisted on each of Vancouver's first two goals. "It didn't seem like he was going to give up the goal we needed. He made us sweat for a long time."
The game was tied for more than 40 minutes when Joe Vitale was called for tripping Vancouver forward Linden Vey at 15:03 of the third. Vrbata won the faceoff from Arizona's Kyle Chipchura and Yannick Weber set Edler up for a shot that smacked the near post, caromed off Smith's back and had enough left find the net.
Henrik Sedin scored an empty-net goal with 1:09 remaining for Vancouver (42-26-4), which won for the fourth time in its past five games. Weber had a goal and an assist and Daniel Sedin added two assists.
"We've played all these teams in the thick of things and every point matters to them," Smith said. "When you give a team like that a power play at the end of the game … but that was one I should have had. It should still be 1-1. But life goes on.
"Everyone is frustrated. No one likes to lose. Even on my birthday we couldn't get one."
Vancouver goalie Jacob Markstrom made 24 saves for his first win of the season. It was his first start since allowing three goals on four shots in under eight minutes in a 6-2 loss against the San Jose Sharks on Mar. 3.
"Mostly it was (the media) that keeps talking about it or can't let it go. I barely remember who we play against, it was so long ago," Markstrom said. "It's a new day. It's hockey. Highs and lows happen to everybody and that was a low. Now maybe you guys can let it go too."
Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored his 20th goal of the season and third in the past three games for the Coyotes (21-44-8), going end-to-end through four defenders and getting off three shots before scoring a goal that electrified the crowd.
But that was all the offense for Arizona, continuing a seemingly endless trend. The Coyotes lost for the 18th time in the past 19 games (1-17-1) and scored one goal or less for the 13th time during that span. Arizona has a total of 23 goals in the 19 games.
The Canucks, who lost two of the previous three games against Arizona, knew they were in for another battle Sunday.
"We knew it would be tough because (Smith) is a good goaltender and whenever he plays he can make a difference in the game," Vancouver coach Willie Desjardins said. "We said it would be a 2-1 or 3-2 game and it meant a lot. It would hurt to lose this one, but it wasn't that we weren't ready. They just played hard."
The Canucks had 12 shots on goal and hit two posts in the first 13 minutes before finally breaking through. Daniel Sedin found Weber rolling up the slot for a shot that also hit the post before going in for his seventh goal at 14:23.
"It was a great play by Daniel to see me jumping in and if you get that chance you have to put it in," Weber said.
But 1:31 later, Ekman-Larsson answered with a fantastic individual effort.
Starting from his own end line, Ekman-Larsson made two Canucks miss as he picked up speed before shooting from inside the blue line. Markstrom made the save, but Ekman-Larsson raced between defensemen Kevin Bieksa and Luca Sbisa to grab the rebound and shoot a backhander. Markstrom stopped that too, but Ekman-Larsson was there for that rebound and roofed it under the crossbar at 15:34.
Ekman-Larsson's 20 goals lead all defensemen. He is the first Coyotes defenseman to reach 20 goals since the franchise moved to Arizona from Winnipeg in 1996 and the first since Phil Housley (23) and Fredrik Olausson (20) in 1991-92.
"Thank God we have him still," Smith said. "He's a special player, everyone obviously knows that now. He's really making a name for himself in this League. He's a great kid with a boatload of talent."
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