Lauri Korpikoski's first-ever shootout attempt
ended with a game-winning goal, as Phoenix beat San Jose, 1-0, at HP Pavilion.
Ilya Bryzgalov made 26 saves for the Coyotes, who snapped a two-game skid.
Peter Mueller also scored during the shootout as Phoenix bounced back from a
2-0 loss to Columbus on Saturday
Evgeni Nabokov stopped 30 shots for the Sharks, who won their previous two
contests. Dan Boyle scored in the shootout for San Jose, a team that began
the 2008-09 season with victories in its first nine home games. This was
the third game at the Shark Tank this season, with previous wins against
Columbus and Minnesota.
"That was a terrible job of controlling the play," said Boyle. "We weren't
very crisp with our passes, our puck handling and our entrance into the zone.
It just wasn't very good overall."
In the shootout, San Jose's Dany Heatley and Phoenix's Radim Vrbata were each
denied in the first round. Devin Setoguchi's attempt was wide of the net in
the second, and Mueller then scored just inside the post on the glove side.
Boyle tied the shootout by lifting a backhand over Bryzgalov, but Nabokov was
beaten five-hole by Korpikoski to end the game.
"I watch that stuff pretty close in practice and he's a guy that caught my eye
the first day," Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said of Korpikoski. "I've continued
to watch him and he's been very good in the shootout so it's one of those
things you play a hunch and it turned out good for us."
San Jose's Rob Blake hit the post midway through the third period and there
were a combined eight shots in overtime, five from the Sharks.
Nabokov stopped a shot from Robert Lang nearly two minutes into overtime and
made a glove save on a blast from Adrian Aucoin a minute later.
Game Notes
The Coyotes were 0-for-4 on the power play, while San Jose had three cracks
with the man advantage...Phoenix returns home for a four-game residency on
Thursday by hosting St. Louis, while the Sharks will be in Washington Thursday
to start a six-game road trip...San Jose went an NHL-best 32-5-4 as the host
last year and also picked up a point in each of its first 22 games as the
host, going 20-0-2.
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