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Coyotes exact some
revenge
Phoenix shuts out Sharks at HP
Pavilion
The Phoenix Coyotes got a little revenge from their
opening night tail whipping at the hands of the Sharks, by applying a little
whipping of their own. The Sharks beat the Coyotes 6-3 on opening night, but
had no answer for Phoenix on Saturday, dropping a 3-0 stinker to the suddenly
resurgent Coyotes. A simple dose of hard work and simple road hockey helped
propel the Coyotes past a lethargic Sharks roster that was devoid of any jump.
The Coyotes scored a pair of 1st period goals on hard work and gritty
play, then clamped down on San Jose. Phoenix outshot the Sharks 11-7 in the
opening period, taking advantage of a team that tried to be too cute in front
of the home audience.
The opportunistic Coyotes jumped on what should
have been an advantage for the home team with 5 minutes left in the period.
Live boards cost the Sharks, when a Ray Whitney shot bounced off the end
boards, kicking the puck out front, where Radim Vrbata was there to sweep the
puck home.
Thomas Greiss gifted the Coyotes a two-goal lead with just
over 38 seconds left in the period, when a Boyd Gordon shot trickled past the
Sharks netminder after he got it caught in his pads. Greiss helped the puck
across the goal line on the play.
San Jose failed to control the puck,
which was aggravated by poor work in the faceoff circle. Joe Thornton lost
11-of-17 faceoffs and Logan Couture added another 6 losses in 8 tries. That
issue may have been the single biggest factor of the game. San Jose failed to
get on track because they were chasing the puck most of the evening.
Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith on the other hand was stellar. Smith's shutout,
was the first by a Phoenix Coyotes goaltender in 14 years, which is an
incredible run considering the Coyotes are in the same division as the Sharks.
The Sharks top power play unit had 4 chances on the man-advantage, but
couldn't get anything on track all night.
Logan Couture came the closest to scoring for San Jose
all night long, with a wrist shot from the slot that caught iron on the right
side.
Pavelski whiffed on the chance of the evening with 9 minutes to
play, putting a shot just over the cross bar after slipping past the Coyotes
defense. Torrey Mitchell then literally whiffed on a floating puck in front of
the Coyotes net, which would have found twine had he connected.
Phoenix countered with a goal a minute later, when Patrick O'Sullivan punched
home a lateral feed from Kyle Chipchura who found themselves all by themselves
in front of the Sharks net. Greiss was toast without any defensive help within
15 feet of his net.
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What did you
think of this story? Post your comments on the
Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| PHO |
2 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
| SJ |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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| 1st period - 1, PHO,
Vrbata 6 (Whitney, Hanzel), 14:21. 2, PHO, Gordon 3 (Torres, Korpikoski),
19:28. |
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| 3rd period - 3, PHO,
O'Sullivan 2 (Chipchura), 12:55. |
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| 1st period - D. Murray,
SJ (holding), 5:58; Aucoin, PHO (interference), 10:07; Couture, SJ
(interference), 16:39. |
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| 2nd period - Yandle, PHO
(slashing), 10:24; Marleau, SJ (goaltender interference), 18:48. |
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| 3rd period - Chipchura,
PHO (tripping), 1:57; Vrbata, PHO (slashing), 6:17. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| PHO - Smith |
31 |
31 |
| SJ - Greiss |
23 |
20 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| PHO |
11 |
5 |
7 |
23 |
| SJ |
7 |
11 |
13 |
31 |
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| Referees:
O'Halloran, Walsh. Linesmen: Brisebois, Gibbs. |
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