VANCOUVER — Call it structure. Call it opportunistic. Call it whatever you want.

If the game plan was to clog up the middle of the ice and throw backup goaltender Jason LaBarbera at his former club to lull the Vancouver Canucks to sleep, it was nearly missioned accomplished by the Phoenix Coyotes.

After sleepwalking through the opening 20 minutes in which they mustered but four shots and seemed content to play on the perimeter and thread the perfect pass, the uninspired Canucks managed to eke out a 2-1 shootout victory Monday at Rogers Arena.

The issue was settled when Ryan Kesler scored in the sixth round of the skills session after David Booth, Alex Edler and Cody Hodgson had earlier connected for the Canucks while Ray Whitney, Gilbert Brule and Mikkel Boedker beat Luongo.

However, the real issue was the scenic path the Canucks often travelled to the crease.

And that didn't make it easy. It never is when the Canucks think that artistry is going to supplant elbow grease. When Booth bolted around defenceman Keith Yandle with a strong backhand-to-forehand move midway through the second period and stuffed the puck to the far side while falling to the ice, it was a textbook goal by the winger and a testament to how goals are scored in today's NHL. Especially against a rejuvenated Coyotes club that was a riding a league best five-game win streak to climb back into Western Conference playoff contention and even gave player-of-the-week stopper Mike Smith the night off.

It should have been enough but on a night when little went right, a turnover by Byron Bitz late in regulation time allowed Yandle to salvage a brutal night. The defenceman let a wrist shot go from the high slot and it got by Roberto Luongo on the short side at 17:54 to extend the agony, marking the 10th time in the last 13 outings the Canucks have been pushed past regulation time and the fifth time in the last sixth they've gone to a shoot.

It was too obvious too early that the Canucks were talking a good game but not executing one.

Instead of making it a tough night for LaBarbera is his first start in three weeks, the Canucks didn't get to the crease, didn't take away his eyes and didn't mount any sort of pressure. They needed the latter part of a second-consecutive power play to register their first shot when Booth let a wrist shot go from the left circle at 9:31 of the opening period.

It was left to fourth-line centre Cody Hodgson to provide some first-rate highlight material on a spirited end-to-end rush that culminated with undressing Yandle with a neat deke and forcing LaBarbera to make a tough save. It was so bad for so long that one of the best scoring chances before Booth struck was on a short-handed rush against the league's worst power play. Alex Edler let the initial shot fly and Jannik Hansen couldn't bury the rebound.

Bitz started the game on the third line and shifted to the second before taking a tour on the top line and instantly taking a hooking minor. It was that kind of night. In looking for some lasting effectiveness with his combinations, coach Alain Vigneault was playing the balance card by having Hodgson on the fourth line between Mike Duco and Maxim Lapierre. By the third period, Hodgson was rightfully promoted to an alignment with Booth and Kesler, but the Canucks weren't alone in looking for something to click.

The Coyotes, who lost defenceman Derek Morris to a pre-game groin strain, also lost Taylor Pyatt in the second period to what was being called an upper-body injury after he was crunched by Aaron Rome.

Through all the sloppiness and line juggling, Luongo managed to keep his concentration long enough until the Yandle goal caught him by surprise. He made tough slot saves off Lauri Korpikoski and Martin Hanzal and thwarted Daymond Langkow on a jam job in the second period.

Meantime, Vancouver winger Chris Higgins took the morning skate and could play Wednesday against Colorado after missing five games with an adverse reaction to antibiotics to address two recent staph infections.

bkuzma@theprovince.com

twitter.com/benkuzma