Coyotes Bounce Back
In a game that Ed Jovanovski labeled a must-win, and a game that closely resembled a playoff situation, the Phoenix Coyotes prevail and beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-3.
After the Canucks scored the first goal off a deflection by Taylor Pyatt, the Coyotes turned up the heat and kept going strong into the second period.
Through an aggressive forecheck where head coach Wayne Gretzky rolled all four lines, the Coyotes put the heat on the Canucks forcing them into plays that they didn’t want to make. In addition, the intensity of the Coyotes’ play caused the Canucks to take ill-advised penalties.
In the second period, the Coyotes scored three unanswered goals, with the last two in the waning seconds of the second period thanks to an ill-advised penalty by Jeff Cowen and a delay of game penalty by Alexandre Burrows.
The Canucks would be undeterred and they quickly scored shorthanded in the third period, only to have Niko Kapanen return the favor three minutes later.
The strengths of this game:
- The edge of Joel Perrault’s play
Perrault has been a monster lately, not backing down from anyone (even if his name is Chris Pronger) and he smacked a very physical hit on a Canucks’ player that caused Willie Mitchell to go off for the proverbial instigator penalty.
- Winnik – Weller – Kapanen
This line was strong all night. They played the typical “North-South” game and forechecked well.
- Ed Jovanovski
He answered the bell against his former team and he had an incredible second period goading Jeff Cowan to take a very misguided holding penalty. After Alexandre Burrows sent the puck over the glass for a delay of game penalty, Jovanovski made the Canucks pay with a timely goal.
- Shane Doan
Doan played physical as well opening up ice for Peter Mueller. In addition, he scored an assist on the Kapanen goal in the third period and extends his point streak to six games.
- Keith Yandle
He recognized an opportunity to score in the waning seconds of the second period as the five-on-three penalty did not expire with Jovanovski’s goal.
- Peter Mueller
He scored his 10th goal of the season and becomes the fifth player on the Coyotes’ roster for double-digits in goals scored. He still trails behind Jonathan Toews in second place for NHL rookies with that statistic.
I also liked Ilya Bryzgalov bouncing back in this game. Even though his save percentage was low this evening, he made the important saves so that the Coyotes would have a chance to earn two points.
The Coyotes break the Canuck’s home winning streak at six games. Since November 9th, the Canucks record at home was 12-0-2. The Coyotes won an important game on the road.
The worst they can do on this road trip is .500 as they travel to Minnesota to face the Wild Sunday afternoon. Every game matters as the teams are bunching up again in the Western Conference.
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