Coyotes bounce by Stars
/Andrew's Dallas Stars Page
Some nights you need a few bounces to win and Wednesday night the bounces didn't go the Dallas Stars' way. The Phoenix Coyotes got a favorable bounce late in the second period that allowed them to tie the game at 3-3 and then got another good bounce early in the third that provided them the game-winning goal in a 5-3 victory over the Stars at the American Airlines Center.
The loss dropped the Stars to 10-13-4 on the season, kept them from gaining ground on any of the teams in front of them and left them in last place in the Western Conference.
"Anything from here on is going to be a real tough loss. It seemed like tonight's hard work and the things that we did do were good," said Stars goalie Marty Turco. "Two bad bounces on goals three and four ended up costing us the game."
"I didn't see what happened behind the net at all," said Turco.
"I got pretty much lucky because Daley didn't handle the puck on his backhand," said Hanzal, who scored two goals on the night. "And it went directly to me and I had an empty net."
Special teams again played a key role in the Stars falling short in the game. They were 1-7 on the power play and missed on a 44 second five-on-three chance in the first period with the game tied 2-2.
"We couldn't capitalize on the five-on-three," said Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas. "Special teams are something we have to bear down on, that's why we're losing hockey games."
They allowed two power play goals, including one with four seconds left in the second period that let Phoenix tie the game at 3-3.
"Our PK wasn't good tonight. Your specialty teams win you games nowadays," said Stars defenseman Darryl Sydor. "We need to be better."
A bounce played a role in that Phoenix power play goal that tied the game at 3-3 late in the second. A wrap around pass by the Stars took a strange bounce off the boards and went right to the Coyotes, keeping their attack alive. Moments later Peter Mueller put a shot on net and Olli Jokinen scored off the rebound to knot the game.
"That's an unfortunate break, but you've got to find a way to overcome it," said Tippett. "It was the same thing in the third. We were hanging around the game. We are finding ways to beat ourselves."
The Stars got off to a good start in the game, taking a 1-0 lead into the contest when Daley scored off the rush from the right circle at the 4:34 mark.
But Hanzal scored less than three minutes later from sharp angle to tie the game and Jokinen scored off a deflection on the power play two-and-half minutes after that to give Phoenix a 2-1 lead. James Neal struck on a Dallas power play a little more than a minute later to tie the game at 2-2.
Fabian Brunnstrom scored off a rebound at 8:35 of the second period to give the Stars a 3-2 lead, but Jokinen's power play goal late in the period would tie it and set the stage for Hanzal's game-winner in the third. Steven Reinprecht scored an empty net goal late to seal the win for the Coyotes, who snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 13-13-2 on the season.
"I was really proud of the way our team responded tonight," Coyotes head coach Wayne Gretzky said. "We got beat pretty bad last game (7-1 in Chicago). We got [the Stars] at a lucky time. They're missing some key players who can't be replaced."
| First Period |
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There were a total of eight power plays in the first period, including three delay of game calls, and when the period ended the Stars were tied 2-2. Trevor Daley opened the scoring at even strength, taking a drop pass from Toby Petersen off the rush and beating Phoenix goalie Ilya Bryzgalov with a shot from the right circle 4:34 into the game. The Stars had a chance to take a 2-0 lead, but Bryzgalov made a big stop Loui Eriksson chance following a Phoenix turnover. The Coyotes tied it a short time later when Viktor Tikhonov shook Matt Niskanen behind the Dallas net and set up Martin Hanzal, who scored from a sharp angle at 7:19 of the period. The Coyotes took a 2-1 lead with a power play goal at the 9:49 mark when Olli Jokinen tipped a Ed Jovanovski point shot past Stars goalie Marty Turco. The Stars bounced back with a power play goal at the 10:58 mark when Stephane Robidas got the puck to the front of the net, where James Neal scored off a backhand shot. The Stars had a chance to take a lead late in the period when they had 44 seconds of five-on-three time, but were unable to cash in on the opportunity. Score after first period: Dallas 2, Phoenix 2 |
| Second Period |
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The Stars started the second period with only five defensemen because Stephane Robidas was in the locker room for repairs after getting hit in the mouth with the puck late in the first period, but he did eventually return. The Stars took the lead at 8:35 of the second when Fabian Brunnstrom scored off a rebound with the two teams at even strength. But the Coyotes got the equalizer with four seconds left in the period when Jokinen scored off the rebound of a Peter Mueller shot with Phoenix on the power play. The play was helped along when a wrap-around the boards took a strange bounce and went right to Mueller Score
after second period: Dallas 3, Phoenix 3 |
| Third Period |
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The Coyotes got what turned out to be the game
winning goal 5:21 into the third period when Turco went out of
the net to play the puck along the boards, threw it behind the
net and the puck bounced off Daley's stick and ended up at the
front of the net, where Hanzal put it into the wide open goal to
put Phoenix up 4-3.
The Stars could never get the equalizer and Steven Reinprecht scored into the empty net late in the game to round out the scoring. Final Score: Phoenix 5, Dallas 3 |
| Official Scoresheet | Official Super Stats |
