NHL: Überraschender Erfolg gegen San Jose!

29.12.2006 von Coyote.

Es gibt scheinbar noch Zeichen und Wunder! Gegen die San Jose Sharks landeten die Coyoten einen Sieg, der wirklich gut für Selbstvertrauen und Seele sein kann. Mit 3:2 siegte man - und schoss den entscheidenden Treffer 41 Sekunden vor dem Ende. Torschütze war Yanic Perreault. Zuvor trafen bereits Shane Doan und Oleg Saprykin für die Coyoten. 

ESPN: Boxscore Recap

Das schreibt AZCentral.com:

Perreault’s late goal saves ‘Yotes

Greg Beacham
Associated Press
Dec. 28, 2006 11:20 PM

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Yanic Perreault scored on a wraparound with 40.9 seconds to play, and the Phoenix Coyotes recovered from blowing a two-goal lead to beat the San Jose Sharks 3-2 on Thursday night.

Curtis Joseph made 27 saves and kept Phoenix in the game with several stunners in the third period. Perreault then scored easily when Sharks goalie Vesa Toskala got entangled with defenseman Scott Hannan, leaving the net unguarded as Perreault came in from behind.

Oleg Saprykin and captain Shane Doan scored early goals for the last-place Coyotes in the first game of a home-and-home series between the division rivals.

Joe Thornton and Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored in the second period to tie it for the Sharks, who finished a disappointing six-game homestand with four losses, including three straight to Pacific Division foes. Toskala made 20 saves, but the Sharks lost consecutive games for just the third time all season.

San Jose’s outstanding season slipped during its first sustained home stretch. After beating NHL-leading Anaheim midway through the month, the Sharks have lost three of four to fall further behind the Ducks in the division standings.

The Coyotes still have scored more than three goals in just one game in December, but Joseph’s latest outstanding effort against the Sharks kept Phoenix in it. Joseph improved to 33-9-1 against San Jose in his career.

Phoenix went ahead in the first period on Saprykin’s power-play goal, and Doan got the Shark Tank grumbling at another slow start when he scored just his second goal in 12 games.

San Jose finally scored midway through the second period when rookie Joe Pavelski missed an open net, but grabbed his own rebound and fed Thornton for the reigning MVP’s 10th goal.

Vlasic, the Sharks’ 19-year-old defenseman, tied it with 18 seconds left in the period on a power play, tapping home Smith’s shot to snap a personal eight-game scoreless streak.

Phoenix agitator Mike Comrie got a bit rambunctious at the end of San Jose’s 4-0 win over the Coyotes two weeks ago, cheap-shotting defenseman Josh Gorges but refusing to fight Mark Bell. Comrie and Bell had a conversation at center ice before this game, but nothing happened in the game.

Notes: Phoenix D Zbynek Michalek had two assists, but was penalized in the second period for high-sticking his brother, Sharks RW Milan Michalek. … San Jose D Kyle McLaren missed his third straight game with a bad case of the flu, while Phoenix D Ed Jovanovski missed a fourth straight game with a strained groin.

Quelle: http://www.azcentral.com/sports/coyotes/articles/1228coyotes-ON.html

This time, Roenick OK with scratch

David Vest
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 29, 2006 12:00 AM

SAN JOSE - Coyotes center Jeremy Roenick was a healthy scratch Thursday night, but unlike the time coach Wayne Gretzky chose to sit him a few weeks back in Vancouver, Roenick accepted Gretzky’s decision without a fuss.

“He’s not playing me, but it’s understood that there are going to be nights when it’s going to be like that, and there will be nights when I play five or eight minutes, and there might be some nights when I play 12 or 13,” Roenick said. “I’m in a place right now mentally, especially with everything I’ve gone through in the last week and a half with my daughter, that I’m not going to let things bother me. I’m just going to try to enjoy myself and help the young guys develop, and be a good role model and a good teacher and a good cheerleader. That’s what I do best, use my mouth. I might as well do it.”

Roenick’s daughter, Brandi, recently was diagnosed with IgA nephropathy, a kidney ailment.

Veteran center Mike Ricci also was scratched again, but this time it was the first time he was benched in the arena where he starred for the Sharks for six-plus seasons.

Gretzky said his decision to sit both veterans wasn’t easy, but younger players Josh Gratton and Joel Perrault deserved to play.

Perrault’s four shots on goal vs. Los Angeles on Tuesday impressed Gretzky, and Gratton wowed him when he fought LA’s Raitis Ivanans after Ivanans got tough with defensemen Zbynek Michalek and Keith Ballard.

‘OMG’ line is MIA
Here’s Gretzky’s take on breaking up the line of Oleg Saprykin, Mike Zigomanis and Georges Laraque, which teamed for 31 points in the 18 games it played together from Nov. 14 to Dec. 23.

“The way the game works is you’ve got to win,” Gretzky said. “And although that line was probably our most consistent line for a stretch of 15 games or so we went into a little bit of tailspin there, losing a couple games at home and losing a couple on the road. So, you look at the losses. If you’re winning, you keep a line together. It’s as simple as that. I didn’t break that line up because they’re not playing well or we’re not happy with their play as a line; we broke that line up because we weren’t winning.”

Cujo the Shark tamer
Goalie Curtis Joseph said it’s a mystery to him why he has had so much success against San Jose.

Joseph entered Thursday’s game with a 32-9-1 record vs. the Sharks.

“If you can figure it out or have a theory, let me know,” Joseph said. “I don’t look at the logo as much as I do the player. I don’t say, ‘Here comes the shark.’ It’s more like, ‘Here comes Joe Thornton’ and ‘(Jonathan) Cheechoo’s over there.’ ”

Ice chip
Defenseman Ed Jovanovksi missed his fourth consecutive game because of a groin injury.

Coyotes report
Cheers
Coyotes defenseman Zbynek Michalek dived stick-first to break up a two-on-one rush early in the second period, and had two assists.

Jeers
Tied at 2, Phoenix didn’t come anywhere close to scoring a goal on two third-period power plays.

Our three stars
1. Oleg Saprykin, Coyotes, goal, assist.
2. Yanic Perreault, Coyotes, decisive goal.
3. Joe Thornton, Sharks, goal, assist.

View from the press box
The Coyotes on Thursday night scored just their third first-period goal in 12 games this month. Coach Wayne Gretzky is stumped: “I don’t have an answer for that. Maybe we’re playing too much soccer before the game, I don’t know. I talked to the guys a couple weeks ago (and told them) change your style, change your pattern. If you don’t ride a bike for a few minutes before a game, ride a bike for a few minutes. If you don’t skate hard in warm-ups, skate harder in warm-ups, or if you skate hard in warm-ups, skate a little lighter in warm-ups.” On the bright side, there’s only one game left in December.

Quelle: http://www.azcentral.com/sports/coyotes/articles/1229coyotesnb1229.html

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