Martin Hanzal registered a goal and an assist
to help the Phoenix Coyotes down the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-1, at Jobing.com
Arena.
Peter Mueller and Scottie Upshall also scored for the Coyotes, who snapped a
two-game skid and won for the fourth time in their last six tries. Ilya
Bryzgalov made 31 saves in the win.
"I'm still concerned about the penalties we're taking, but I liked our compete
level right down to the final buzzer," said Phoenix head coach Dave Tippett.
Kris Versteeg had a short-handed goal for the Blackhawks, who were playing for
the first time in six days. Cristobal Huet stopped 20-of-23 shots in defeat.
"We had a lot of chances to take control of the game and it was just
unfortunate tonight," Versteeg said.
The Coyotes grabbed an early lead on a tally by Hanzal, who took a feed from
Ed Jovanovski, dashed into the attacking zone, stick-handled around a Chicago
defender and ripped a wrist shot between the legs of Huet at 2:54 of the first
period.
Mueller backhanded the rebound of a Shane Doan offering for his first goal of
the season with 8:05 to play in the opening frame. The former first-round pick
potted 22 goals two years ago as a rookie.
Phoenix led 3-0 when Upshall cradled a pass from David Schlemko and fired a
wrister labeled for the top-right corner of the net at 10:38 of the middle
stanza.
Versteeg's marker put the visitors on the board with 6:04 remaining in the
second.
Chicago appeared to close to within a goal near the midway point of the third,
but Colin Fraser was ruled to have used a kicking motion to direct the puck
past Bryzgalov.
Game Notes
Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews missed his fifth straight game with
concussion-like symptoms...Chicago swept the four-game season series last
year, outscoring the Coyotes by a 20-4 margin...The Blackhawks finished 0-
for-6 on the power play...Chicago visits the surprising Avalanche on
Friday...The Coyotes travel to Anaheim on Saturday.
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