Stempniak on fire in the desert

When the Phoenix Coyotes brought in forward Lee Stempniak at the NHL trade deadline from Toronto they must have felt he would come in and be a role player. You know, the kind which fill a hole every now and again, maybe kill a penalty or two, pitch in on the power-play here and there.

Now, after eight games with the Desert Dogs, they've realized they were right. And then some.

Stempniak has been lighting it up, potting nine goals with two assist in his short time with Phoenix. Add in three power-play goals and a game-winner and you have one of the best forwards in the game this month.

The only two games he didn't find the back of the net were against Anaheim (which he followed up with back-to-back two-goal games) and Tampa Bay (he notched one against Florida two nights later). both games he picked up an assist.

Most recently he showcased his marksmanship against Chicago, leading Phoenix to it's eighth straight win with a 5-4 victory in which he buried two.

The Coyotes now sit in fourth, just one point behind San Jose for top spot in the Pacific division and two points back of the Western Conference-leading Blackhawks.

With the stone wall play of goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov, the outstanding performances of Stempniak and Radim Vrbata (the team's leading goal scorer with 22) along with new addition Wojtek Wolski, the veteran leadership of Shane Doan, and the steady of play of the team's defensive corps, the team is firing on all cylinders as it heads toward its first playoff appearance since the 2001-02 season.

To think they would be succeeding like this after what went down in the off-season would have been unheard of before. The next thing which many thought would be unheard of could be the 'Yotes solidifying their great season with their names imprinted on Lord Stanley.