RSS
Home
Coyotes beat Blackhawks at home
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Ilya Bryzgalov (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
The Phoenix Coyotes let the Chicago Blackhawks know that this year could be different.
After going 0-3-1 against Chicago last season, the Coyotes picked up two points in the first meeting between the two teams this season by defeating them, 3-1, Thursday night at Jobing.com Arena.
Phoenix put two goals up on the board in the first period. The first one came at 2:54 of the first period when Martin Hanzal scored his third goal of the season, and the second one came with 8:05 left in the period when Peter Mueller scored his first goal of the season.
“It hasn’t come for a while,” said Mueller after the game. “But it was good to get that one off of the back and it’s one of those things where you get one and a bunch more are going to start coming.”
The Coyotes extended their lead to 3-0 when Scottie Upshall scored his fifth goal of the season at the 10:38 mark of the second period.
The shutout went by the wayside though when Kris Versteeg beat Ilya Bryzgalov for his fourth goal of the season to cut the Phoenix lead to two.
Chicago played with a sixth skater for almost the final two minutes of the game, but weren’t able to pull within two.
Bryzgalov stopped 31 shots for his ninth victory of the season, while Chicago’s Christobal Huet stopped 20 of 23 shots in the losing effort.
NOTES: Defenseman Ed Jovanovski left the game with an unknown injury… Chicago finished the game 0-for-6 on the power play, while Phoenix went 0-for-3.
Quote of the game
“They’re a better team, they’re deeper, they’re balanced, they have a very mobile defense, and they’ve got good goaltending. They’re playing tight and patient and it’s paid off.”- Chicago Blackhawks Head Coach Joel Quenneville on the Phoenix Coyotes
Anthony’s three stars
1. Martin Hanzal (goal, assist)
2. Ilya Bryzgalov (made 31 of 32 saves)
3. Peter Mueller (first goal of the season, two shots)
Final thoughts
The key for the Coyotes to get into the playoffs just isn’t to beat the teams you should beat, but to earn points against other playoff caliber teams. So far this season the Coyotes have earned victories against Pittsburgh, Detroit, San Jose and now Chicago. Not a bad body of work if you ask me.
Related Articles:
Comments
.jpg)
