VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- On a night with plenty of plot twists, defenseman Ben Hutton wrote an unexpected ending in the Vancouver Canucks' win over the Arizona Coyotes.

Hutton scored on a penalty shot at 3:34 overtime to give Vancouver a 3-2 victory in a game the Canucks trailed 2-0 at one point.

It was just the second goal of the season for Hutton, but he looked like a 50-goal scorer on the play.

The 23-year-old from Brockville, Ontario, who played his college hockey at Maine, made a pretty deke then slid a backhand through the five-hole of Arizona goaltender Louis Domingue.

"That's a move I use in practice," Hutton chuckled after the game. "I've never attempted it in a game.

"I was a little nervous going into it, but it worked it. There was a lot going through my mind. I knew we needed this win. It's a big two points."

Hutton was awarded the penalty shot after being hooked by the Coyotes' Dylan Strome on a breakaway.

He had to think about the last time he took a penalty shot.

"Geez, I think it might have been my freshman year in college," he said.

Head coach Willie Desjardins admitted seeing the second-year defenseman scoring in overtime on a penalty shot wasn't what how he expected his struggling team to win the game.

"That was kind of a surprise," said Desjardins. "It looked like he'd taken lots of penalty shots the way he handled it. He made a great move."

Hutton's goal capped a game with plenty of ups and downs for both teams.

Arizona's Brad Richardson was put on a stretcher at 11:23 of the second period and taken to the hospital. He appeared to injure his right leg after taking a hit from Nikita Tryamkin, Vancouver's 6-foot-7 defenseman.

Coyotes coach Dave Tippett couldn't give an update on the extent of Richardson's injury after the game.

"He was at the hospital," Tippett said. "I don't have any clear information yet."

The Canucks thought they had opened the scoring in the first period but the goal was disallowed for goaltender interference.

The Coyotes then built a 2-0 lead on second-period goals by Richardson and Anthony DeAngelo.

The Canucks tied the game with goals 2:13 apart late in the second period. Daniel Sedin scored on the power play and added an assist. Brandon Sutter also scored for his third goal in as many games.

The Canucks improved to 7-10-1. It was their third win in five games after losing the previous nine. In three of their seven wins the Canucks have been forced to overcome deficits.

"For us it's been about the process all year," said Sedin. "I know it's been tough.

"We've lost a lot of games, but we've been in all those games. We've been in a lot of games and came up short."

Sedin also was surprised by Hutton's goal.

"I thought maybe he was little bit too tired to be successful on the penalty shot," he said. "He did a great move and it was great to see it go in."

The Coyotes (5-9-2) lost their fourth consecutive game and second in a row in overtime.

"We gave too many scoring chances ... and we lost the skills competition again tonight," said Domingue, who saw his record drop to 4-8-1. "Last night and tonight were two big games we needed to win.

"We got points but it's not good enough."

Shane Doan said losing a veteran like Richardson hurts.

"It is so important to have veteran guys up the middle," said Doan. "He adds a lot to us, makes us better.

"It's always tough but we have a bunch of young guys that are going to have to step up and play big minutes."

It was a battle of the two worst teams in the NHL. Vancouver has three wins in their last 14 games. Arizona is 2-6-2 on the road and has lost five of its last six contests.

NOTES: With G Ryan Miller sick, the Canucks called up G Michael Garteig from the ECHL Alaska Aces, where he has a 5-1-0 record, a .916 save percentage and a 2.52 GAA. ... RW Jake Virtanen, who had one point in 10 games, has been re-assigned to the AHL Utica Comets. ... Team officials say D Philip Larsen, who had been listed as a healthy scratch for four games, has a virus that could sideline him for several games. ... The Canucks wore lavender-colored warmup jerseys with names on the back dedicated to friends and family fighting cancer. ... Vancouver's homestand continues Saturday against Chicago. .... D Connor Murphy and D Jakob Chychrun, both healthy scratches in a 2-1 loss to Calgary Wednesday, returned to the Arizona lineup. ... RW Tobias Rieder (lower body) was a late scratch. ... Healthy scratches were D Kevin Connauton and D Luke Schenn. ... The Coyotes return home to face San Jose on Saturday.