Matthew Lombardi had two goals and three assists and Ilya Bryzgalov made 33 saves as the Phoenix Coyotes annihilated the woeful Edmonton Oilers 6-1 in front of 13,421 fans at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale.
Ed Jovanovski started the scoring parade, beating Edmonton goalie Jeff Deslauriers on a slap shot 9:58 into the first period. Lombardi tacked another on to the Coyotes’ lead, scoring his first of the night and 11th of the season with just :31 remaining before the first intermission.
But the real story early on was the play of Bryzgalov. The Russian Olympian stopped all 13 shots he saw in the first period, and was able to stave off an early two-man advantage for the Oilers after Paul Bissonnette (goalie interference) and Zbynek Michalek (holding) were whistled for penalties.
“The big difference early in the game was Bryzgalov,” Coyotes head coach Dave Tippett said. “He kept us in the game early, let’s be honest.”
Lombardi and Jim Vandermeer scored 4:37 apart in the early stages of the 2nd period to give the Coyotes a 4-goal cushion. Then in the third, Radim Vrbata and Robert Lang lit the lamp to make it 6-0 Phoenix.
It looked like Bryzgalov was on the way to his 7th shutout of the season, but Edmonton’s Dustin Penner spoiled that with his 23rd goal of the season with just 4:28 remaining in the game.
Shane Doan and Lang each had 2 assists on the night for Phoenix, who matched their win total from a year ago with their 36th victory.
The Coyotes now embark on a 2-game road trip to Minnesota and Colorado before returning home to wrap up the pre-Olympic portion of their schedule Saturday against the Dallas Stars in Glendale.
Last five games:
Oilers: 2 – 3 – 0
Coyotes: 4 – 1 – 0
Last ten games:
Oilers: 2 – 7 – 1
Coyotes: 7 – 3 – 0
Point Leaders
Oilers
Penner(45), Gagner(35), O’Sullivan(30)
Coyotes
Doan(43), Lombardi(35), Vrbata(34)
Goal Leaders
Oilers
Penner(22), Gagner(14,) O’Sullivan(12)
Coyotes
Upshall(18), Vrbata(18), Doan(17)
Assists Leaders
Oilers
Penner(23), Visnovsky(21), Gagner(21)
Coyotes
Doan(26),Lombardi(25), Yandle(20)
The Coyotes return home from their four game road trip to host the Edmonton Oilers at the Job. This will be the third of four meetings between the two teams this season with the Oilers and the Coyotes each winning a game in this series.
The Edmonton Oilers are indeed one of the worst teams in the league this season but it’s not just for lack of talent. At this point in the season, the Edmonton Oilers have lost well over 330 man games to injury to key personnel. The team that remains has been anything but stellar with much of the current healthy roster not playing anywhere near to their potential, thus the win/loss record you see.
So far this season the Oilers have gotten thoroughly beaten not only by numerous opponents but themselves. They’ve been playing so badly the press is tired of writing about it, they’ve gone through three bag skates….
Hockey 101 – A Bag Skate is a team practice made of repetitive, strenuous skating drills and sprints, usually without pucks.
…and they just don’t seem to care about being competitive.
On the flip side the Coyotes have the opportunity to make a statement of beating the teams they’re supposed to beat. Numerous times this season the Coyotes failed to beat the teams they were supposed to beat (like the Lightning, Canadiens, etc). This the first time they can actually play up to their potentials against a team that will be gunning for them and aren’t playing anywhere near to their potentials.
Things to watch for:
- Keith Yandle – Since getting snubbed by USA Hockey for the 2010 Men’s Olympic hockey team he has been on a TEAR notching points and playing some amazing hockey.
- The Edmonton Oilers – What team is going to come out tonight? A competitive team or one that just doesn’t care about anything.
Keys to the game:
Pedal to the metal and don’t let up – Even though the Oilers are having one of their worst seasons ever, doesn’t mean the Coyotes should treat this game as an easy win. They need to come out like any other game and show their dominance.
Defense – Keep up the amazing play as of late. Keeping the Oilers off the scoreboard is a must tonight.
Get to Oilers Goaltender Jeff Deslauriers early and often – Deslauriers has been playing pretty well for the Oilers in place of injured goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin. However, his team has hung him out to dry on numerous occasions. This must be taken advantage of.
Game Notes:
- Sam Gagner flew back to Edmonton today to consult with Oilers medical staff about his injured knee.
Officials:
Referees: #2 Kerry Fraser; #29 Ian Walsh
Linesmen: #57 Jay Sharrers; #88 Mike Cvik
Injuries:
Coyotes: Kurt Sauer, Scottie Upshall
Oilers: Nikolai Khabibulin, Ales Hemsky, Ryan Stone, Steve Staios, Ladislav Smid, Sheldon Souray, Sam Gagner
It’s only 4 days till my roadtrip with the Coyotes. Having only seen my guys in their natural habitat of Jobing.com arena, it will be a thrill to experience their play elsewhere. Friday, February 12th marks my entry into Colorado Avalanche territory.
Pepsi Center as it is known in Denver (not THE Pepsi Center as I have found out), is the home of the Avalanche. The arena is 11 years old and holds just over 18,000 fans. Bernie the St. Bernard is their mascot and I have to say he looks more “lame-o” than “Cujo”. Howler could so take him.
I am looking forward to testing my “rabid” (pun on the Cujo reference is intended) fan skills as I surely will find myself in the minority Friday night. Look for me decked out in a player graffiti’d jersey, sporting a Yote face tattoo and doing the finger Coyote with my 7 year old daughter. Watch out Avs fans!
Stay tuned for updates via Twitter (follow me @puckgal00)pics and of course here on Fanster.com.
I pose this question for Phoenix Coyotes or any other hockey fan…what arena(s) have you been to?
Which was your fave and why.
If you are going to do something, do it right! That’s what they say and that goes for losing too. The Phoenix Coyotes must agree because their loss against the Dallas Stars was spectacular on Saturday. Out of the gate early and often Dallas came at us and we just didn’t have a chance to get ahead. It didn’t help that goalie Marty Turco appeared to be bulletproof.
I am not being facetious or sarcastic either. After six straight wins against some important teams (Chicago and Detroit to name a couple) and the amazing work of Captain Doan and the entire defense including the Shootout King Adrian Aucoin….how could you fault the Coyotes for one bad game? The Coyotes are still sitting in 5th place, tied in points with the #4 Kings so go ahead and call me Pollyanna of the Puck, but there isn’t anything to worry about here.
There’s no doubt the Coyotes will get back on track and quickly. Besides, they get to exact some revenge next week when the Stars come to our house…
Let’s Puck!
Here is one highlight you do need to check out. Bissonnette (aka BizNasty) working over Barch, enjoy! Bissonnette vs Barch
There’s really not much to report on or analyze here. The Coyotes ran out of gas and were dominated in just about every statistical category by the Dallas Stars last night….including penalty minutes.
Just forget about this one and move on…..
Game Highlights:
Post Game Presser with Coach Tippett (Courtesy of PhoenixCoyotes.com):
Post game comments from Shane Doan (Courtesy of PhoenixCoyotes.com):
He bends, he stretches, he stops pucks in impossible ways and comes complete with Metallica inspired helment. Goalie Barbie also features double fist pumping action at the end of a win.
Saturday night’s Coyotes/Blackhawks game marked a very impressive performance by goalie Jason Labarbera. After he gave up a goal early in the first period, Labarbera really hit his stride and got the team through several penalty kills, some scary breakaways and eventually Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa in the shootout to get the win.
Adrian Aucoin, shootout master extraordinaire, lended his wrist shot to help get the win. This makes 2 goals in shootouts in the last 2 games! When asked about his streak he claimed to be “nervous” fearing that he may be called upon for repeat performances. Hey, even the masters get a case of the nerves.
Other standouts included Radom vrbata with his goal in the 3rd, Sami Lepisto defensively and the Chicago Blackhawks for not really putting it together.
Incidentally Goalie Barbie, Shootout King Aucoin and the rest of the Phoenix Coyotes retail for roughly $140 million. Just in case you would like to purchase them and keep them in the desert.
Last five games:
Stars: 3 – 2 – 0
Coyotes: 5 – 0 – 0
Last ten games:
Stars: 6 – 2 – 0
Coyotes: 8 – 2 – 0
Point Leaders
Stars
Richards(61), Eriksson(51), Neal(40)
Coyotes
Doan(43), Lombardi(35), Vrbata(34)
Goal Leaders
Stars
Neal(22), Eriksson(21), Richards(17)
Coyotes
Upshall(18), Vrbata(18), Doan(17)
Assists Leaders
Stars
Richards(44), Eriksson(30), Robidas(23)
Coyotes
Doan(26),Lombardi(25), Yandle(20)
The Coyotes and Dallas Stars meet for the third (of six) meetings this season with the Coyotes winning all previous meetings in November. The Coyotes are playing three of the next five games on the road before the Olympic break and will need every point to maintain their standings in the Western Conference. So far on this road trip the Coyotes have earned two points in each of their three games on the road and have extended their overall winning streak to six straight games.
The Stars are pretty much where I thought they would be at the beginning of the season….the middle of the pack in the division. The Stars aren’t a bad team like the Leafs or the Oilers. However, they aren’t a great team either. Marc Crawford has the Stars pretty much playing at the best of their abilities this season producing solid performances yet inconsistent final scores.
Things to watch for:
- Keith Yandle – Since getting snubbed by USA Hockey for the 2010 Men’s Olympic hockey team he has been on a TEAR notching points and playing some amazing hockey.
- The Stars without Ribero – Without one of their best offensive weapons in the lineup, it remains to be see who the Stars scoring threats will be. Mike Modano is on a bit of a points streak with three goals in his last two games and six goals in his last eight games. Brad Richards has at least a point in all home games at the American Airlines Center except for four of them.
Keys to the game:
Coyotes can’t let Ott throw them off their games – Steve Ott is going to go after the main scores on the Coyotes roster and try to sucker them into taking bad penalties. He leads the Stars in hits and penalty minutes this season. In addition Ott has six points in his last nine games.
Discipline – The last time these two teams met, the Coyotes allowed an astronomical 23 shots on goal in the 3rd period en route to a 4-2 victory. In the first period of that same game, the Coyotes only allowed 5 Dallas shots on goal.
Mike Richards – Has been on a scoring tear as of late. This season he has tallied 11 goals and 30 assists for 41 points in the last 38 games. He currently leads all Dallas scorers with 61 points. Not someone you want to have possession of the puck.
Game Notes:
- Bryzgalov gets the start in net tonight (via the Coyotes website)
Officials:
Referees: Gord Dwyer (19), Kerry Fraser (2)
Linesmen: Darren Gibbs (66), Bryan Pancich (96)
Injuries:
Coyotes: Kurt Sauer, Scottie Upshall,
Dallas: Mike Modano, Mike Ribeiro, Brian Sutherby, Tom Wandell
Official 3 Stars for the game:
3) Duncan Keith – Blackhawks Defenseman (homer vote)
2) Coyotes Goaltender Jason LaBarbera
1) Coyotes Defenseman Adrian Aucoin
The Phoenix Coyotes followed probably their best and most all-around perfect game of the season with another gem by defeating the powerful Chicago Blackhawks on their home ice 2-1 (SO). Showing no more effects from their average January, the Coyotes behind stellar defense and great goaltending from Jason LaBarbera took the Blackhawks to the Shootout and the eventual win.
This was another defensive gem on both ends of the ice as both teams allowed fewer and fewer scoring chances/shots on goal as the game progressed….even into the overtime session.
At times last night, the Blackhawks looked tired possibly after just coming off their longest road trip of the season. Jonathan Towes speculated that (via Brett Ballantini of CSNChicago.com) the Blackhawks ‘didn’t have the energy’. Towes continued, “We’ve got no jump to our game…our focus isn’t there like some of those games where we played well.”
LaBarbera’s rebounds were probably the only major issue with the game as you can see here (the best example we could find)….
…however LaBarbera and the Coyotes made some adjustments during the game and played some really solid hockey for the majority of the game. Here’s an example of LaBarbera’s save on Marion Hossa’s breakaway scoring attempt. The play started when Marion Hossa blocked an Ed Jovanovski point shot and then took off on a breakaway until he met up with Jason LaBarbera (Below):
The Coyotes don’t have long to celebrate last night’s victory as they play the Dallas Stars tonight in Dallas.
Official 3 Stars for the game:
3) Duncan Keith – Blackhawks Defenseman (homer vote)
2) Coyotes Goaltender Jason LaBarbera
1) Coyotes Defenseman Adrian Aucoin
The Phoenix Coyotes followed probably their best and most all-around perfect game of the season with another gem by defeating the powerful Chicago Blackhawks on their home ice 2-1 (SO). Showing no more effects from their average January, the Coyotes behind stellar defense and great goaltending from Jason LaBarbera took the Blackhawks to the Shootout and the eventual win.
This was another defensive gem on both ends of the ice as both teams allowed fewer and fewer scoring chances/shots on goal as the game progressed….even into the overtime session.
At times last night, the Blackhawks looked tired possibly after just coming off their longest road trip of the season. Jonathan Towes speculated that (via Brett Ballantini of CSNChicago.com) the Blackhawks ‘didn’t have the energy’. Towes continued, “We’ve got no jump to our game…our focus isn’t there like some of those games where we played well.”
LaBarbera’s rebounds were probably the only major issue with the game as you can see here (the best example we could find)….
…however LaBarbera and the Coyotes made some adjustments during the game and played some really solid hockey for the majority of the game. Here’s an example of LaBarbera’s save on Marion Hossa’s breakaway scoring attempt. The play started when Marion Hossa blocked an Ed Jovanovski point shot and then took off on a breakaway until he met up with Jason LaBarbera (Below):
The Coyotes don’t have long to celebrate last night’s victory as they play the Dallas Stars tonight in Dallas.
Over the next few days or so we’re going to be experimenting and upgrading the site with a new cosmetic look and feel.
When this site was first started, it was an experiment to 1) see if there was demand for Coyotes news and 2) to report on stories about the Coyotes that you wouldn’t find locally in Phoenix but also in the North American media. In just a few short months we’ve grown to over 12,000+ unique visitors a month (and still growing) which means we’re going to need to adapt to our growing readership. Since newspaper software is just not cost effective right now, we’re going to stick with the current software that we have. Sure, the drawback is that people get the incorrect impression that this is just a blog but that’s not what we are.
Some of the topics that have been reported on in the few months that this site went live weren’t very popular for various reasons….specifically our Gretzky article from many moons ago. When we post articles like these, most of the time it’s because there’s misinformation about certain topics in various circles inside and outside the state of Arizona and the correct story should be known. For example, the purpose of the Gretzky article was to show that the Coyotes were mismanaged over the years and that’s why the Coyotes are in the situation the they are currently in.
If you ask the layman (even in the Phoenix area) what they think the problems with the Coyotes are, 9 times out of 10 they will say that because hockey doesn’t work in Arizona. Stories such as the Gretzky article are published not to make people or parties look bad. It’s to get the right story out to the masses since no other media outlet in Arizona is relaying the story to fans, hockey people or other non Coyotes media types to digest. If stories are taken in a manner that we’re smearing or being negative, we can’t be held responsible for how people react to what we publish. We’re not in the business to smear, we’re in the business report what we see/experience/investigate.
As I’ve said on Twitter, if all we write about are proverbial puppy dogs and flowers all the time, we’re not going to be in business very long.
This is an exciting time for the Coyotes this season and this has been an amazing story to follow. So stay tuned while we find some better (and more readable) cosmetics for this site so we can finish this awesome story.
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Matthew Lombardi had two goals and three assists and Ilya Bryzgalov made 33 saves as the Phoenix Coyotes annihilated the woeful Edmonton Oilers 6-1 in front of 13,421 fans at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale.
