Phoenix Coyotes

Tuesday night's last featured NHL game was more than a timely reminder that the All-Star break is indeed over. The Phoenix Coyotes were well on their way to opening the month of February with a bang--or better yet, with a BOOM--but after seeing their 3-0 lead evaporate with five unanswered opposition goals, including one by a familiar face last seen packing his bags on his way out of training camp's Battle of the Kyles, they were stunned by their rival San Jose Sharks in a 5-3 loss. Not long after Ed Jovanovski was boarded by Dany Heatley and forced to leave the first period, Radim Vrbata opened the scoring by deflecting in a Shane Doan point shot on the power play at the 16:11 mark, f...

Holiday Monday action featured two teams having gone in opposite directions in recent weeks as the formerly twelvth place Coyotes, sitting 4th, went head-to-head with the then-tenth place Sharks. The latter came out with the win by a score of 4-2. Phoenix had won four straight before Monday afternoon whereas San Jose, also the winner of the previous meeting between the two teams by a score of 4-1, beat the Blues 4-2 on Saturday night but lost six in a row before that. Still, in Patrick Marleau's 1000th NHL game, he and the Sharks held the Coyotes at bay, scoring three goals as Antti Niemi stood on his head the rest of the way, not allowing the Coyotes to get any lucky bounces and killin...

Life was not as fresh and rosy for the Phoenix Coyotes on the ice as it seemed to be off of it. After having lost three out of their last four games, including a 3-0 shutout at the hands of the New Jersey Devils, the desert dogs headed into the Nassau Coliseum to face the New York Islanders. Scottie Upshall was the latest victim of Dave Tippett's benching spree, Wojtek Wolski having served his time before him. Radim Vrbata hadn't scored in his last eleven games. Jason LaBarbera would have to make a second consecutive start after surrendering a momentum-shifting goal to Brandon Prust of the Rangers and coming out on the wrong end of that 4-3 decision Thursday night. At the other end, twe...

A welcome face will be suiting up tonight for the Phoenix Coyotes for the first time in 6 games. Center Martin Hanzal, having been sidelined by a lower body injury, is now set to face the Nashville Predators tonight at the Jobing.com arena, where a team with a 3-1-0 road record faces off against a 1-2-2 at home squad. Nashville just lost their first road game against Detroit on Saturday while Phoenix also dropped their last game by a shutout of 3-0 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Several key members of the Coyotes, including captain Shane Doan, are still looking for their first goals of the season. Phoenix has also gone without a single power play marker at home. These factors have c...