Coyotes 2, Canucks 1

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) - Curtis Joseph made starting on consecutive nights look easy.

The 38-year-old goalie made 34 saves, and Ladislay Nagy had a goal and an assist in the Phoenix Coyotes' 2-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night.

Joseph's performance came a night after he made 32 saves in Phoenix's 4-1 victory in Dallas. The victory raised his record to 11-7-0, and he lowered his goals-against average to 2.12.

"Having Fuhrsey (Grant Fuhr) as a goalie coach is a great help," Joseph said. "The guy's a Hall of Famer. He knows what I'm thinking before I do."

Anson Carter spoiled Joseph's bid for his third shutout of the season with 9:03 remaining, stealing an errant clearing attempt by Denis Gauthier and beating Joseph from the center of the left faceoff circle.

"He has been exceptional. He's been outstanding," Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky said. "He's been one of the best players in the National Hockey League without question."

Gretzky said Joseph, who has started 18 of the Coyotes' 26 games and 12 of their last 15, will take a well-earned night off when Phoenix plays Anaheim on Wednesday.

Vancouver lost for just the second time in five games. The Canucks are an NHL-best 10-1-0 at home but only 5-6-2 on the road.

Sean O'Donnell scored his first goal for the Coyotes, who have won four of their last five.

Phoenix needed only 2:05 to score against goalie Alex Auld. Mike Johnson passed the puck from the left corner to the high slot, and O'Donnell, trailing the play, skated into the zone and beat Auld with a one-timer from between the circles.

Nagy made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 11:30 of the period, redirecting Jamie Lundmark's shot from the right point past Auld.

Joseph shut out the Canucks for more than 2 1/2 periods, stopping several point-blank shots along the way. Two of his most difficult saves came late in the second period when he stopped Ryan Kesler's shot with his right pad, then made the save on Richard Park's rebound attempt seconds later.

"We definitely could have buried a few power-play chances and that might have changes the complexion of the game a little bit," Carter said. "We had plenty of chances on the power play. Chances don't win you hockey games. You have to put the puck in the back of the net."

The Canucks were scoreless on six power-play chances.

"I think urgency is something we need to have in our play all the time," Canucks coach Marc Crawford said. "I can't stand here and say we were an urgent hockey team. We were waiting for things to happen instead of creating them."

Shane Doan was awarded the Coyotes' franchise-record fourth penalty shot of the season when he was pulled down from behind by Ed Jovanovski. Doan skated straight at Auld, switching briefly from his forehand to his backhand and back again, before shooting into the goalie's midsection.

Notes: The franchise record of three penalty shots was set in 1992-93 in Winnipeg and matched in 1999-00 in Phoenix. ... Doan's penalty shot was Phoenix's second in two nights. Mike Comrie misfired Friday night in Dallas against Marty Turco. ... Phoenix D Keith Ballard leveled Park with a shoulder check to the forward's face in the second period, setting off a brief skirmish. Park returned later in the period.