Keith Yandle dished out three assists, and
Jason LaBarbera turned aside 31-of-32 shots, as the Phoenix Coyotes scored
four unanswered goals to take down the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-1, at
Nationwide Arena.
James Vandermeer, Zbynek Michalek, Martin Hanzal and Robert Lang each had a
goal for the Coyotes, who snapped a brief two-game skid.
Derick Brassard had the lone score for the Blue Jackets, who have lost two in
a row and four of five. Steve Mason stopped 19-of-23 shots for Columbus, which
suffered its first home loss of the season.
The Blue Jackets used a Brassard power-play goal with 1:39 left in the first
period to take a 1-0 edge. A shot from the right point set up a rebound in
front, and Brassard was there to fire a wrister past LaBarbera.
Hanzal's power-play score at the 10:33 mark of the second tied things up.
Yandle led a rush down the left side of the ice before dishing a pass to
Ed Jovanovski, whose shot set up a tip-in for Hanzal.
At the 13:17 mark, Vandermeer gave Phoenix a 2-1 lead on a shot from the point
that went through traffic in front before finding the back of the net.
Michalek's one-timer on the power play put the Coyotes ahead 3-1 with 9:05 to
play in the third.
Phoenix used a Lang power-play goal with 5:23 remaining to build a three-goal
margin. After Columbus failed to clear its own zone, Yandle collected the disc
and faked a shot before sliding a pass to Lang, who fired a shot from the
bottom of the left circle over that went over Mason's shoulder and into the
net.
Game Notes
Columbus recorded a 2-0 road win over the Coyotes on October 10, ending a
four-game slide against Phoenix. The Blue Jackets have still lost four in a
row and five of their last six home tests against the Coyotes...The Coyotes
will end a three-game road trip on Thursday in St. Louis...The Blue Jackets
host the Penguins on Friday...The Coyotes announced Wednesday a time change
for the team's game versus the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, December 26 at
Jobing.com Arena. The game will now start at 10:00 p.m. (et)...Phoenix
improved to 4-2-0 as the road team this year...Columbus dropped to 3-1-0 at
home this season.
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