Coyotes 5, Red Wings 2

Phoenix was at its best when its was up or down a skater, or two, and that gave them a chance to survive for at least one more game.

Phoenix scored its first three goals on special teams and Ilya Bryzgalov made 31 saves in a win over Detroit on Sunday that forced Game 7 in the first-round series.

"They won the special teams battle," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "That sucked the life out of our team."

Phoenix will host the final game against Detroit on Tuesday night.

"Any time you can play in a Game 7, it's a game you'll remember," Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said.

Detroit would love to forget how Sunday started.

The Coyotes were called for three penalties in the first 4:42 - including a pair that put them down two skaters for 1:09 - but they were the only team to score in the opening period.

Detroit defenseman Brad Stuart nonchalantly carried the puck out of his end, Lauri Korpikoski snatched it and scored a short-handed goal 4:10 in to spark the win.

"My fault," Stuart said.

Mathieu Schneider snapped the Coyotes' 0 for 19 skid on the power play with a goal early in the second for a 2-0 lead, and Radim Vrbata scored with the man advantage midway through the period to restore the two-goal edge.

"I don't want to say we solved it," Schneider said. "It worked for tonight."

Wojtek Wolski's even-strength goal put Phoenix ahead 4-1 late in the second.

Detroit's Jimmy Howard made 24 saves, but he gave up at least four goals for the third time in the series. He allowed only one the previous two games as Detroit took a 3-2 lead.

A finalist for the Calder Trophy - given to the NHL's top rookie - Howard is about to play in his first win-or-go-home game in the NHL.

"No, I'm not concerned about him at all," Babcock said. "We're real comfortable with Howie. You can't win Game 7 until you get there."

The Coyotes went ahead 1-0 on their first shot Sunday and beat Howard four more times.

"They got lucky," Howard said. "We hit a couple posts."

The Red Wings also often hit Bryzgalov's stick, skates and pads, including 10 times in the first 10 minutes.

"Bryz was excellent," Tippett said. "That's what he's done for us all year."

Stuart scored 2:51 into the second - 24 seconds after Schneider put the Coyotes up 2-0 - to fire up the crowd, but the fans were quieted by the goals from Vrbata and Wolski.

Phoenix ended any hopes the Red Wings had for a comeback when Taylor Pyatt scored a power-play goal 5:25 into the third.

Detroit's Darren Helm scored with 3:31 left, but the goal came much too late. The Red Wings missed opportunities, going 0 for 5 on the power play, and couldn't slow down the Coyotes - 3 for 6 with a man advantage.

Canucks 4, Kings 2

Daniel Sedin scored with 2:03 to play, and Vancouver rallied from another third-period deficit to finish off its first-round series against Los Angeles with a victory in Game 6.

Roberto Luongo made 30 saves while keeping Vancouver close in its third straight victory over Los Angeles, and Kevin Bieksa tied it early in the third period for the third-seeded Canucks.

Sedin then skated in to collect a loose puck and snapped a shot over goalie Jonathan Quick, sending Vancouver to the second round of the Western Conference playoffs for the third time in four seasons.

Drew Doughty and Alexander Frolov scored and Quick stopped 18 shots for the sixth-seeded Kings, who struggled to finish close games in their first playoff appearance since 2002.

LATE SATURDAY

Sharks 5, Avalanche 2

San Jose took the first step toward shedding its label of postseason underachievers.

Joe Pavelski scored two goals, including the tiebreaking tally midway through the third period, to lift the Sharks to a series-clinching win over Colorado Avalanche in Game 6.

Pavelski and Dan Boyle scored 1:29 apart in the final period, propelling top-seeded San Jose into the next round. The top-seeded Sharks will have to wait to find out who they will face in the Western Conference semifinals.

Devin Setoguchi and Douglas Murray added empty-net goals in the final minute after the Avalanche pulled goalie Craig Anderson for an extra skater.

Marek Svatos and Brandon Yip had goals for eighth-seeded Colorado.