A 16 game December is next for the Coyotes, a schedule not exactly relaxing for the festive month! There's no repeat of the epic 5 game road trip experienced in December but a packed month none-the-less. The month also gives the Yotes their first taste of action against the Oilers and NY Rangers. There'll be some banter with Gem over that game!
@Jets, First up for December was a return trip to Winnepeg to face the Jets.The Coyotes had won the first game in the series 4-1 at the Jobing and this was a chance for revenge back at the MTS centre. Going into the game the Coyotes were on a 2 game winning streak and expected a hostile reception. Despite being booed throughout the game the Coyotes pressured the jets all game, but the result would be a win for the Jets. Only one goal scored in the game through Bryan Little. So a disappointing return to Winnepeg but not the end of the world.
v Flyers, The Coyotes returned to Phoenix to take on the, aptly named, Flyers. Riding high and scoring loads of goals the Flyers took the game to the Phoenix and, effectivly, won it in the first period. The game would also see Mike Smith pulled for the first time this season conceding 4 goals on 17 shots. The stats don't look good for Smith, but the goalies can only do so much when the team in front is not helping out! The Flyers first period goals came from Read, Simmonds, Giroux and Hartnell. With LeBarbera in for the 2nd and 3rd periods the Coyotes steadied the ship and did not concede any further goals. In fact they staged a little comeback and make the score look a little more respectable. A second period goal from Whitney and a second goal in the final minute of the third from Boedker gave the home fans something to cheer about.
@Blackhawks, Just six days ago the Coyotes were in Chicago and left the windy city with both points, this time around the Coyotes would again leave Chicago with the win, but a much harder fought win this time. Once again the Coyotes jumped out to an early lead. By the end of the first session the Yotes were two goals to the good through Rafi Torres and Vrbata, damn that guy can't stop scoring! Yandle put the Coyotes 3-0 up early in the second, this goal seeming to wake up the Blackhawks as they scored soon after through Toews. Toews would cut the deficit again by deflecting a shot from the point by Duncan Keith. The game tying goal capped off the comeback when Patrick Kane was found on the back post to score in the top corner. A solid third period from the Coyotes saw the game head to OT and Penalty Shots, Oliver Ekman-Larsson got the game winner. So thats two games in Chicago and 4 points, as a Yotes fan, iv'e got to be happy with that!
@Nashville, The day after their win in Chicago the Coyotes head south to Nashville to take on the Predators. their previous game against the Pred's came on the day of Rinne's birthday and the day he signed a massive contract. The Coyotes were determined this would be different, the Coyotes took the lead just 9 seconds into the game through Taylor Pyatt. The Coyotes/Jets franchise record is 5 seconds, so nearly a new record! The Pred's did tie the game in the first period scoring with 12 seconds left in the session. What was it with the early/late goals!?!? No goals followed in the second period, but the third would burst into life. Ray Whitney put the Yotes ahead before Weber would, once again, tie the game. The two top players on the Phoenix roster would step up and secure the win. Shane Doan made a great play to find Keith Yandle to make the final score Preds 2 Coyotes 3!
@Detroit, The Coyotes rolled into Detroit on the back of two road wins in Chicago and Nashville, the game against Detroit would be their third in four nights and see the Yotes return to Detroit for the first time since being swept out of the playoffs last season. The Wings absolutely obliterated the Yotes in the first twenty minutes by scoring 5 unanswered goals. I think the Yotes were still on the plane or in a different time zone! Mike Smith came into the game in great form, yet he wouldn't last the period! Goals from Bertuzzi, Filppula, Holmstrom, Helm and Hudler sealed the win for the Wings early on. LeBarbera came in after the fourth and only conceded one more for the game. The Coyotes finally got on the board in the second thanks to a laser shot from Vrbata and the scoreline was made more respectable in the third after a PPG from Martin Hanzal. Normally I would not expect much going into Motor City, but had the first period been different, I wonder what the result may have been?
vWild, The Coyotes came back to the desert to face the high flying Wild and the slow start would hurt the Coyotes....again. After their first period capitulation to the Wings the Coyotes endured another awful start to the game, and were 4 nil down going into the last ten minutes. Mike Smith again in goal put alot of the blame on himself which can be a little unfair, there is only so much a goalie can do without a team in front of him! The other major issue at the moment is the Coyotes PP, dead last in the NHL standing at just 10%! That has to change if the Coyotes have any hope of winning games. The solitary scorer for the Coyotes was Korpikoski who scored at the 11min mark in the third period. A disappointing loss, especially as the Coyotes were leading the Pacific Division coming into the game.
@Ducks, The Coyotes headed off to California for their next game against the Anaheim Ducks, the Ducks worked hard and came out of the game with a well deserved 4-1 victory. Martin Hanzal getting the only goal for the Yotes. Despite spending much of the second period in the Ducks zone the Coyotes only had the one goal to show for their efforts. The Ducks outworking and out thinking the Coyotes across the ice. Mike Smith was again in goal and unfortunately for him picked up the loss too.
vOilers. The Coyotes needed a big game, a bounceback game, and the Oilers gave it to them. The Coyotes worked hard and traded goals with the Oilers, but ground out a 4-2 victory massively out shooting the Oilers 42-20 in the process. Korpikoski and Vrbata scored hussel goals for the Coyotes only to be pegged back by Taylor Hall, both times, to bring Edmonton back into the game. After Hall made the scores 2-2 6mins into the third period the next goal was always going to be massive. This is where you need your franchise players to step up, and Shane Doan did just that! Oliver Ekman-Larsson added a 4th goal for insurance and the Coyotes got the deserved win, dominating the Oilers over the full 60minutes. The game also giving Mike Smith a morale boosting win!
vRangers, Rangers were next to the Desert and this game would see a heartbreak ending. The Rangers took the lead through Gaborik only for Korpikoski netting a short handed goal with 9 sec left in the first period. The Coyotes would take the lead in the second period with Cal O'Reilley scoring a PPG, that special team unit really clicking for the Yotes. The Ranges pegged them back early in the third period when Gaborik scored his second of the night. That goal was Gaborik's 300th in the NHL. The game was destined for OT only for Ryan McDonagh for the Rangers battled in the corner, back handed a pass towards the goal for Brad Richards to deflect it goalwards. After review the goal was ruled good and the Rangers won the game with 0.1 seconds to go. As I said, a real heartbreaking end!
@Panthers, the Coyotes had to wait three nights to get over the pain of losing a game with a tenth of a second to go. The opposition this time were the Florida Panthers. Perhaps this game saw lady luck smile on the Coyotes after she so harsly ditched them against the Rangers. The Coyotes went 2-0 after the first half of the game through goals from Whitney and Vrbata, both PPG's showing that unit finally clicking. The Panthers narrowed the gap through Brian Campbell in the second setting up a close third period. Just before lady luck got warmed up, she would give the Coyotes one last kick, Mike Smith suffering a groin injury just 3mins into the period. LeBarbera came in and would be involved in the moment where Lady Luck shone for the Coyotes. Stephen Weiss got a penalty shot opportunity late on for the Panthers but LeBarbera pulled off a big save and the puck trickled towards the goal line only to stop short. Giving the Coyotes the win!
@Hurricanes, A stanley cup winner with the Hurricanes, Ray Whitney returned to Raleigh and in front of friends and family got the Coyotes rolling towards a great 4-3 win. A win which saw the Yotes come from 3-1 down in fact! After allowing Ruutu, Nodi and Tlusty to fire the Hurricanes into the lead the Coyotes dug deep and hit back with 3 unanswered of their own. Further goals coming from O'Reiley, Klesla and Korpikoski with the game winner. So a satisfying return for Whitney, and a welcome break from the Coyotes 1-11-1 record when trailing after the first two sessions. They hung around and it paid dividends!
vBlues, The Blues came to town and, on the day the Coyotes inducted Keith Tkachuk into their ring of honour the Blues would be the party poopers! No goals came in the first period the Blues won the second 2-1 and fought a hard 1-1 third to get the 3-2 win. Steen and D'Agostini for the Blues and Doan for the Yotes were the scorers in the second period. Arnott and Yandle traded markers in the third and it finished 3-2 Blues. The 30 minute induction ceremony may have contributed to the sluggish start, but its remarkable to think that all but 18 games of Tkachuk's career were played for the Blues and Coyotes!
@Kings, The injury hit Coyotes went to Los Angeles to take on the Kings on the back of a western conference leading away form of 11-6-1. Unfortunately that road record would count for nothing when a combination of injuries and the LA Kings offence turning up saw the home side skate out with a 4-3 win. LeBarbera was in goal once again but then gaveway to Curtis McElhinney after conceding the 4th goal of the night. Scuderi, Torres and Richardson traded goals in the first period leaving it 2-1 Kings. Torres got his second of the night with the only marker of the second period. Mitchell and Brown gave the Kings the advantage in the third period and only one goal for the Coyotes Langkow gave the home side the win.
vBruins, The Stanley Cup champions came to town and a soldout Jobing.com awaited them. Before the puck drop I would have said the Coyotes would be lucky to get anything from the game, but in reality they came so close to the win! In a game short on goals the Bruins exploded out the blocks with a goal after just 47 seconds from David Krejci. Ray Whitney got his 13th of the season and tied the game 1 a piece. It would stay this way all the way into OT. Before OT was even 1 minute old lady luck deserted the Coyotes, a shot from Dennis Seidenberg deflected off Coyotes defenceman Derek Morris between LeBarbera's pads giving the Bruins the extra point! So a point against the Bruins.....i'll take that!
@Avalanche, The Coyotes went to Colorado to face a team who's past seven wins have been by one goal margins. The teams traded goals throughout the first and second periods with the Avs going first. Kevin Porter, then Mikkel Boedker made it 1-1. Then Stefan Elliot and Mikkel Boedker (again) made it 2-2. With the scores tied, win the third and you win the game. Gabriel Landeskog would score the only marker of the third session to give the Avs yet another close win.
@Wild, The coyotes went to Minnesota to avenge their early month loss to the Wild in the Jobing.com arena. A season high crowd in the Excel Energy Centre greeted both sides. Curits McElhinney was in goal once again as the injury riddled Coyotes looked to get back to winning ways. No goals in the first period gave way to two in the second. Pierre-Marc Bouchard scoring first for the Wild only for Langkow to score a PPG to tie the game. The fourth period went crazy with goals. A pair for Radim Vrbata would give the Coyotes the ultimate edge in the third period. Matt Cullen scored a penalty shot to make the scores 3-2 and, I was even able to listen to the last 5mins on my phone through the NHL gamecentre app McElhinney stood tall for the Coyotes and stoned the Wild in the dying minutes. Ray Whitney broke into centre ice and was able to add the empty netter for the Coyotes.
The Coyotes went 6-9-1 through the month of December!
October is done and in the can, November will prove to be a tough month for the Coyotes. 13 games and a killer five game road trip in the middle visiting both the west and east coasts of America!@ Avalanche, The Coyotes opened November with a trip to Colorado and the Mile High city to take on the Colorado Avalanche. The Avalanche came into the game with a good record, 7 wins going into the game and the Yotes came in on the back of a two game winning streak. It would be a tough game for the team from the desert and needed some big performances. The Coyotes got them, once again Mike Smith came up big in the game turning away 39 of 40 shots to give the Yotes dependable goaltending. Of the skaters Radim Vrbata had a two goal game including one spectacular goal as he was taken down from behind. While the Coyotes advanced to a third win in a row, they condemned the Avalanche to their fourth defeat in five on home ice. The team famed for its sell out streak is struggling! The Coyotes....are starting to warm up!v Predators, Nashville, a difficult place to play a game and, with Rinne fresh from signing a seven year $49mil contract extension the Coyotes had to get past a goalie who would be in the form of his life and happier than larry! Unfortunately for the Dog's luck was just not on their side in Nashville, LeBarbara started in place of the red hot Mike Smith and was done by two pieces of bad luck, nothing to do with him! The first was the go ahead goal for the Predators which went through traffic and the legs of a Nashville player before sneaking past LeBarbaba. The second was a turnover from Korpikoski which gave the Predators a 2 on 0. In the end, the birthday boy millionaire was in such good form the Coyotes were unable to breakthrough and left Nashville with null points!v Oilers, After the loss in Nashville the Coyotes returned home to take on the hot Edmonton Oilers who went into the game on the back of a six game winning streak. A scoreless first period gave way to a two goal second period which would give the Coyotes the edge. Daymond Langkow and Adrian Aucoin scored goals and the Coyotes defence strangled the Oilers offence to send the Yotes on the way to a 4-2 victory. Further goals coming from Boyd Gordon and a sixth for Ray Whitney, an empty net goal. This defence first mentality the Coyotes brought to the ice also brought head coach Dave Tippet his 100th win behind the Yotes bench. What better way than to celebrate the milestone with a home win at the Jobing!v Canadiens, The Coyotes second game at home, in a row, saw the men from Montreal come to the desert. The Canadiens arrived missing three forwards and facing a three game skid the Canadiens would be hungry. With Langkow missing due to family reasons the Phoenix toplines had to be juggled around and it showed. With the Coyotes goals coming from their third and fourth lines. Despite withstanding a 34 shot Montreal first period the Coyotes could not get the win in regulation. But thanks to Mikkel Boedker and Raffi Torres the game went to OT, only for the Canadiens Josh Gorges to seal the extra point for the Canadiens. Against a team like Montreal who, I would expect to be challenging come the post season, to get a point, im a happy Coyotes fan. While a home win would be so much better, 1 point is better than a big fat 0!@ Sharks, After the loss to Montreal the Phoenix headed to California to face division rivals the San Jose Sharks. This game would also give the Coyotes a chance to atone for their opening day loss to the Sharks in Cali, when they allowed 52 shots. So far this season the Coyotes have been red hot when scoring first, since Dave Tippet took over the Coyotes have won 73 games when scoring first. It's almost like the stars were aligning for a Phoenix win after the first period, as the Yotes exploded out the blocks. After the first session the Yotes were 2-0 to the good through goals from Vrbata and Boyd Gordon. The Coyotes now had to ensure that lead was not surrendered! Step up Mike Smith, he did and then some! Only one more goal would be scored....by a Coyote! Patrick O'Sullivan got the insurance and Mike Smith got the shutout!@ Maple Leafs, The Phoenix roadtrip continued with a trip to Toronto to face an improved Maple Leafs, after picking up an OT loss and a win the Coyotes were up to 3 points so far on the road trip. The Coyotes once again played an excellent first period and, again, would find themselves 2-0 up after the first session. First period goals from Shane Doan and Oliver Ekman-Larsson would see the Yotes into the lead up until the third period. Mike Komisarek and Phil Kessel brought the Leafs back into the game, and forced OT. With no goals scored we went to every fan's favourite hockey time, the shootout! Thankfully Mike Smith came up big again and saved both Toronto's attempts in the shootout while O'Sullivan and Vrbata scored with theirs, giving the Yotes the win!@ Flyers, Next up for the Yotes roadtrip was a trip to Philadelphia and the first game against ex Coyotes Ilya Bryzgalov. The game would turn out to be an old fashioned goalie duel with new Phoenix nettie Mike Smith coming up against his predecessor. In fact, so tight was the game that, it was only decided with just 18.6seconds left on the clock. The Flyers went ahead in the second period through James van Riemsdyk only for Boedker to tie the game early in the third period. Matt Read got the winning goal and give Bryzgalov the win against his old team. The victory for the Flyers also broke the Coyotes five game road win streak.@ Sabres, The Coyotes turned north and headed to Buffalo for game four of this roadtrip and for the first time ever in his NHL career gave Paul Bissonnette a chance to play in front of family. With around 50 family in attendance Bissonnett would break a 2-2 tie and give the Coyotes the go-ahead goal and impetus to win. Towards the mid point of the game Phoenix and Buffalo traded goals. Doan and Vrbata scoring for Phoenix and Adam and Kaleta scoring for the Sabres. In fact Vrbata and Bissonnette's goals came within 70 seconds of each other and really knocked the stuffing out of the Sabres. Buffalo only managed 15 shots after and the Coyotes were the only team to score another goal. Radim Vrbata getting his second of the game, an empty net goa, with just over a minute to go.http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2011020276&navid=sb:recap@ Capitals, The last stop in the Coyotes west to east roadtrip ended in the nations capital against the Capitals. In the end it was almost de-ja-vu for the Coyotes, facing an opposition on the slide and a head coach on the cusp of a milestone victory. The capitals on the back of a 6 in 7 loss streak and Boudreau looking for win number 200! Phoenix, with LeBarbara in net looked to spoil the party by jumping to a 2-0 lead through goals from Vrbata and Korpikoski, both short handed in fact look to have put the Yotes on the way. Only for Washington to score 4 unanswered to ultimately win the game. That comeback coming from Carlson, Eakin, Backstrom and Laich. Korpikoski would get his second of the game to bring the Yotes within one, but the comeback was not to be and the Caps held out for Boudreau's 200th win.v Ducks, The Yotes returned to warmer and more familiar climbs after their epic road trip, to begin a three game homestand against Division rivals the Ducks. Despite the Ducks scoring first through Koivu the Coyotes hit right back with 4 unanswered goals to win the game. Mike Smith proving he has the Ducks figured out improved to 5-0-1 against the Ducks. The Phoenix hot streak came from Yandle, Eckman-Larsson and current player in form Vrbata with two. Vrbata's pair of goals lifting him to 11 for the season. Corey Perry would get his 8th of the season and the Ducks second of the game but the Yotes got the win and began the homestand with the W.v Canucks, Last seasons Stanley Cup finalists were next to come to the desert and bring the much heralded Sedin twins to the Jobing ice. Going into the game I would have expected a loss, but would have been delighted with a point. Unfortunately it wasn't to be and the Canucks rolled the Coyotes and left with a 5-0 shutout and two points. Mike Smith's recent hot form, 8-1-1 over a month and a save % of .946 was blown out of the water by goals from Salo, Kesla, Booth, LaPierre and Burrows. The one possible bright spot for Tippet and the Coyotes was the penalty kill unit. Phoenix stopped the NHL's best PP unit on all 5 chances and 1min 31sec of 5 on 3. Not many positives but an impressive one none the less!v Stars, After such a tough loss against the Canucks the Coyotes welcomed the Stars to Phoenix. So far the Coyotes had managed to surrender winning positions to the Stars late in the game, this would be an opportunity to right that wrong. The game also saw Langkow return to the coyotes lineup after his own personal tragedy. The Coyotes were brilliant, after surrendering those late leads and two OT losses to Dallas the Coyotes responded with a 3-0 shutout win on home ice. That shutout was Smith's 13th of his career and improves him to 3-0-0 against the Stars in regulation. The Coyotes goals came from Boedker, Whitney and Pyatt.@ Blackhawks, The Coyotes rolled into Chicago to take on the Blackhawks and played their best road form. Able to play their hard-checking, suffocating style of play the Coyotes raced into the lead and never looked back. With Mike Smith in fine form between the pipes the Coyotes took the lead in the first period through Daymond Langkow's fourth goal of the season. Shane Doan then blasted a slap shot from the right circle that went straight through Crawford, giving the Yotes a 2-0 lead midway through the game. The Coyotes wrapped up the game in the first 5 minutes of the third period, Vrbata continuing his hot streak scoring the Yotes 3rd just after the start of the period and Whitney making it four at the 5min mark. The Blackhawks finally gave their fans something to cheer about when they got their only goal of the game in the last minute, denying Mike Smith a shutout, Patrick Sharp making the final score 4-1 Coyotes.Coyotes end the month 8-4-1
The 2011/12 NHL season is finally a go-go! Except no one in the UK can see it on their telly boxes yet! Im sure most of you will roughly know the current wrangling over the NHL's European TV rights deal, so I wont go into it. I'll only say, I do not want to watch the NHL on my computer, I want to watch it on my TV. So, the NHL and ESPN America have until the end of the month to get the NHL on our screens or I shall join the growing list of people who have binned their subscription!*update* since writing that opening sentance and posting this, Premier Sports have signed a deal to screen live and as-live NHL games in the UK. So, ESPN America has been cancelled and 'hello premier sports' *update*@ SJ Sharks,The Coyotes opened their season with a trip across to sunny central California to meet the Sharks by the bay, not the easiest of starts, but the Coyotes had one 5 of their previous opening day games. This time would be different, the offseason has not been kind to the Coyotes and they went into the game without their goalkeeping star Bryzgalov. In his place Mike Smith signed from the Tampa Bay Lightning, unfortunately for him, and the Yotes, they had the worst of starts. The Sharks rolled over the Coyotes 6-2, with Smith coming in for a peppering facing 52 shots! Combine that with 3 PP goals for the Sharks you can kinda guess this was a result the Coyotes will be keen to leave behind!@ Stars, The Coyotes continued their season openers with another road game, this time in the big state, Texas. Where everything is done bigger and better....apparently! The Coyotes headed for Dallas to face the Stars, a team who are struggling as much as the Coyotes are. Perhaps because of this the game was not a barn burner, just 6,306 fans attended the game and witnessed a tight game. The Coyotes were just 27seconds shy of recording their opening win before Eriksson netted to send the game into OT and Penalties. The Coyotes would be disappointed once again as the Stars won the shoot-out and the extra point. At least, for the Phoenix, that visit to Dallas yielded a point and got them off the mark.@ Nashville, So next stop for the Coyotes road trip was the season opener in the Bridgestone Arena Tennesse. A tough game with a sell out crowd hyped up by an emotional pre-game video tribute to Lokomotiv Yaroslavl and to former Pred Wade Belak. The Predators may well have been too wrapped up in the video's as the Coyotes came out and hammered them in the first period. Launching to a 3-0 lead the Coyotes managed to silence the sell out crowd, a big achievement in itself! With LeBarbera in goal the Coyotes were able to keep out the Predators until over the halfway point, despite the s/o going the Coyotes shut down the Pred's and held on for a 5-2 victory. A good win for the Yotes against a talented Predator team, but for me, the stand out stat from the game is, 13 Coyotes players picking up points. The Coyotes do not have too many standout names, but with team production like that, they don't need to! I only hope the Yotes can keep up this kind of point production!v Winnipeg, The father franchise of the Coyotes jetted into town to take on their transplanted offspring. There had been an exciting build up to this game, would the Jet's show that the NHL made a mistake re-locating them to Arizona? Or would the Yotes show their is life in the desert and life in the Yotes despite all the off ice troubles. A full Jobing.com arena greeted both teams, with a sizeable contingent of Jet's fans, the night would be noisy! Any hope the Jet's fans had of upsetting the Coyotes home opener were dispelled just 34sec into the contest. The Coyotes made the perfect start in silencing the Jet's fans and pumping their own up! Phoenix would control the game and run out 4-1 winners, with second year Oliver Ekman-Larsson having a great night with two goals. The other highlight was a great performance from Mike Smith, posting a 0.948 save percentage! On a night where a loss could have been spun so many ways, the Yotes came up big and put on an impressive performance. Hopefully some newbies in the sellout crowd were convinced to give the Desert Dog's another go!v Chicago, Next up for the Yotes saw the Blackhawks come to town, this would be another tough test for the Coyotes as the Blackhawks bring a number of skilled players to the fight. The game began and both teams traded goals up until the end of the second period when the Blackhawks held a 3-2 lead. Going into the third the Coyotes performance on the PP sealed their fate in this game. Given two powerplay opportunities not only did they not score, they gave up a short handed goal. Those type of goals really get to me, so it is disappointing to see the Yotes fall victim. Being a Manchester Phoenix fan I know all about poor powerplay performances too! After the high of beating the Jet's this loss is so dissapointing, a good performance against a team like Chicago would have done the Coyotes confidence no end of good!v Los Angeles, The Coyotes home stand ended with the visit of the LA King's, the Kings seem to be perennial under achievers, especially coming from the success hungry state of California! The Coyotes went into this game 1-1 during this home series and a good performance on home ice would be needed. Sadly that didn't come, and the Yotes were shut-out on home ice by a score of 2-0! For some reason, waking up to this score, im really disappointed with it, I think it's because, against the Blackhawks I didn't see the Yotes getting anything, but against the King's I felt good in hoping for a Yotes win. Reading the recap it sounds like it was a poor performance, not necessarily from Smith in goal, but the team in front. Iv'e got the game recorded so will have to make my mind up then. When the team are keen to improve crowds at the Jobing.com home games are important, and the Yotes are now 1 and 2 at home. That form has to improve, im sure it will, we are still in the early stages of the season!@ Anaheim, The Yotes travelled to California for their first visit to Anaheim, a game against the Ducks offered the chance for Phoenix to forget about the home shutout versus the Kings. If anything, that game forced the Coyotes into a reaction. It looks like the Coyotes new attitude worked wonders as they forced Anaheim into 15 turnovers and a further 7 takeaways. With that sort of offence its clear to see how the Yotes managed to harry the Ducks into mistakes. The Ducks also pulled Hiller for Dan Ellis, another sign the Coyotes were doing something right! The biggest star of the night was Martin Hanzal, the defensive forward stepped up with a 4 point game with two goals and two assists. It's good to see the Coyotes spread the scoring too, with 4 scorers, including first goals for Yandle and Gordon.v Dallas, The Stars came back to the Desert for the teams second meeting in a month, the Coyotes would try to get the win that they let slip in Dallas. With the last 6 meetings between them being decided by a goal it should come as no surprise this was another tight game. It was a tough game but the Yotes worked hard and a highlight of which was Shane Doan getting number 300! A fantastic milestone for any player in hockey, let alone the NHL! That goal also saw the Coyotes powerplay problems end, that marker being the first PP goal in 14 attempts! Being a Manchester Phoenix fan, I can understand a frustrating poerplay unit! Going into the last 90sec of the game, just like in Dallas, the Coyotes gave up the lead and the game ended 2-2. No further goals came in overtime and the extra point would be decided by everyone's favourite element of the game.....penalty shootouts! In the end it sounded like neither team wanted to score, 8 rounds.....thats right! It took 8 rounds of penalty shots before the Stars claimed the extra point! Im dissapointed with the loss, but at least the Yotes took a point from the game!v Devils, After the heartache of another late slip against the Star's fresh in their minds the Coyotes needed to come up big against the Devils! Without Martin Brodeur the Devils luck in the desert was not on their side, without a win in Phoenix since 2003 and an all time record of 3-7-0 the omen's were good for the Yotes. They also got the first goal of the game giving them the early momentum, that goal coming from debutant Patrick O'Sullivan. Despite ending the first period 1-1 the Coyotes were well on top with 19 shots alone in the first session. With the scores tied the Coyotes went on to win period's 2 and 3 by a score of 2-1, giving the Yotes a 5-3 victory against a good New Jersey team. Ray Whitney got deserved recognition after the game thanks to a 3 point game. Despite Whitney entering the twilight of his career at the age of 39, he is having a fantastic scoring start to this season. Whitney and Doan currently lead the roster stats with 10 points each through the first 9 games of the season.v Kings, After getting back to winning ways against the Devils the Coyotes entertained the Anaheim Ducks in the Jobing,com arena. The Coyotes penalty kill unti played a large part in this game, and helped the Yotes to a 3-2 overtime victory. The Coyotes penalty kill unit has now killed off 34 of the last 37 enemy powerplays, now running at 91.8%! Other big pluses for the Yotes was a big performance from Radim Vrbata who, re-united with Whitney and Hanzal, finished the game with two goals and one assist! Quite often over here in the EPL great goaltending gives you chances to win games. Just look at Stephen Wall for Peterborough and Ben Bown's for Sheffield. Both keepers who will shutout an opposition and win games if given the chance. Mike Smith, who has been much maligned since moving to the desert, put up great numbers and gave the Yotes a chance to win! His save % for the game coming out at 94.9%!Coyotes ended the month 4-3-2So that's it, the first Desert Dogs-a-Howlin blog post for The Angry Budgie. Let me know what you think, any changes I should make, anything I should/shouldn't talk about etc...! November's edition is already in the works!
