A thrilling 4-2 victory last night in Glendale over the Los Angeles Kings and goalie Mikael Tellqvist was once again a key factor.  After losing six consecutive games Head Coach Wayne Gretzky gave Tellqvist a shot against the Blue Jackets on November 26th and the talented Swede came up huge stopping 38 of 40 shots including a 14 shot barrage in the 3rd period when the Jackets stormed the Phoenix crease on four power-plays.  In the Coyotes’ next game Telly once again started and limited the Colorado Avalanche to a single goal in Phoenix’s 2-1 victory.  The following day Gretzky opted to rest Tellqvist and see if Bryzgalov had worked out whatever was troubling his game.  Phoenix jumped out to a quick two-goal lead but Bryz could not hold it, allowing two goals on the Av’s first two shots of the game 71 seconds apart.  Gretzky pulled Bryzgalov and Tellqvist was solid the rest of the way but the Av’s eventually won the game 3-2 and the Coach did not mince words when laying blame for the set-back:

“They get two shots on goal and it’s 2-2 and that’s not good enough, and quite frankly that was the difference in the hockey game,” Gretzky said.

I am sure it would be tempting for the Coyotes management to push Gretzky to start Bryz over Tellqvist given the disparity in their respective salaries — $4.2 Million vs. $800k.  But clearly Gretzky is basing his decision strictly on hockey and not politics.  The bigger question is how long can this last?  Would the Coyotes consider giving the full-time job to Tellqvist and return Bryzgalov to the back-up role he detested in Anaheim?  As long as Bryz is giving up goals in bunches the answer is an easy one, absolutely.  But if both goaltenders are playing well will the Coyotes revert to the 5:1 start ratio Bryzgalov enjoyed earlier in the season?  Unless Tellqvist plays himself out of the job I think he can secure at least a much larger number of starts, perhaps as high as 40 to 50%.   But in years past Tellqvist was never able to maintain a consistently high-level of play.  Maybe this is the year Telly proves he is capable of being an NHL starter.  Clearly Gretzky loves Tellqvist, going out of his way to heap praise on the former back-up and on several occassions noting that the other players “love” playing in front of him.  Does that mean they don’t like playing in front of Bryz?  Maybe they just don’t like it as much.  Maybe Gretzky is playing head-games to try and get Bryz engaged and playing better.

Should Bryzgalov continue to implode the Coyotes are nurturing a lot of goalie talent in the minor leagues with Al Montoya and Josh Tjordman splitting time in San Antonio with very similar stats.  Playing on a struggling 2-20 AHL team the two goalies are both 1-10 with Tordjman sporting a 3.41 GAA in 14 games while Montoya has a GAA of 3.93 in 13 games.  I know, not exactly comforting but keep in mind there are six players on the ice and a goalie can’t stop everything without some help.  The Coyotes have the bulk of San Antonio’s talent on their roster so it will take some time for the Rampage to replenish and adjust. It is unlikely the Coyotes would want to promote one of their youngsters this season unless either Bryz or Telly are hurt.

For the immediate future the answer for the Coyotes between the pipes are already in Phoenix.  Hopefully Bryzgalov snaps out of his funk and Telly keeps on keepin’ on.  Having a pair of elite netminders is a tremendous advantage and something the Coyotes have never enjoyed in their 10 previous season in the Valley.