+3
The Maple Leafs won their third straight game Monday night, vaulting them over the idle Ottawa Senators in the Eastern Conference and Northeast Division standings.
In their two most recent victories, the Phoenix Coyotes have exorcised some demons.
Boyd Gordon and Martin Hanzal scored to give Phoenix a 3-1 win over the Western Conference-leading Detroit Red Wings.
The Coyotes' win over the Red Wings was their first since March 5, 2011, a span of eight games, not including a four-game sweep in last year's Stanley Cup Playoffs. Saturday, the Coyotes defeated the San Jose Sharks 5-3 for just the second time in their last eight meetings.
It was also the third consecutive time that Phoenix scored first against Detroit, but this time, the former finally won a game and did not lose in a shootout as they did in the previous two games.
Phoenix sits in 10th place in the Western Conference after Monday's win, just two points behind the Minnesota Wild for the eighth and final playoff spot. Perhaps the Coyotes and Red Wings will meet again in the postseason. Monday's win could be a confidence boost if that were to happen.
Phil Kessel scored two goals and added an assist and James Reimer stopped 27 shots to win his third straight decision as the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Edmonton Oilers, 6-3, at Air Canada Centre Monday night. Kessel had a fantastic game, scoring his 28th and 29th goals of the season while registering six shots on goal and finishing with a +4 rating.
The Maple Leafs also got goals from Clarke MacArthur, Jake Gardiner, Tyler Bozak, and Joffrey Lupul.
21-year-old Jordan Eberle is showing no signs of a sophomore slump, as he notched a pair of first-period goals to give him 24 for the year as part of his team-leading 54 points. Eberle came close to recording his first-ever NHL hat trick midway through the third period when his straightaway blueline blast beat a screened Reimer but rang loudly off the crossbar and deflected into the netting above the glass.
Jeff Petry tallied his second of the season in the middle frame for Edmonton's other goal.
After Eberle's deuce was countered by goals from the Leafs MacArthur and Gardiner to knot the opening period in a 2-2 deadlock, Toronto broke the game open in the second period. Goals by Kessel and Bozak gave the Maple Leafs a 4-2 lead before Petry cut the Oilers deficit to one.
Lupul restored the two-goal lead 3:30 later. Dion Phaneuf stopped a Taylor Hall clearing pass and sent a shot on Edmonton starter Devan Dubnyk, but Lupul was able to grab the puck and knock it past the netminder to send the Leafs to the locker room with a 5-3 lead at the second intermission.
Kessel finished off the scoring with a shot from center ice that hit the empty net with 1:05 remaining and Dubnyk pulled for an extra attacker.
The Leafs improved to 20-0-1 when leading after two periods on the year.
The game featured nine goals on 60 shots on goal (30 apiece), and 62 hits.
With the high number of goals tallied, one would have to think that the power play was a big factor in the outcome. After all, the two teams are each in the top five clubs in success rate with the man advantage -- Edmonton is third at 22%, and Toronto is fifth with 20%. But the power play would have no bearing on the festivities on this night, as there was not one penalty called over the entirety of the 60 minutes.
Oilers' head coach Tom Renney missed the game after taking a puck to the side of the head during the morning skate. The coach was experiencing headaches and remained at the team's hotel. Associate coach Ralph Krueger handled the bench duties for the club in Renney's absence.
Some other bad news for Edmonton: in just the second game back from a shoulder injury that caused rookie Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to miss a month, the Calder Trophy candidate took a hard check from winger Mike Brown during the third period and did not return. Nugent-Hopkins took the brunt of the impact to his left shoulder, which is the area he injured in a freak accident when he lost an edge in Chicago on Jan. 2 and fell awkwardly into the United Center boards.
Toronto stretched its winning streak to three as they jumped over the idle Ottawa Senators for seventh place in the Eastern Conference standings, just one point behind the New Jersey Devils, while Edmonton saw their three-game winning streak come to an abrupt halt.
The Anaheim Ducks allowed the Calgary Flames to hang in there, but ultimately made up for their mistakes with a win in an eight-round shootout, taking a 3-2 victory. Up 2-1, the Ducks were unable to convert on a lengthy 5-on-3 power play, keeping the Flames in the game, but Jonas Hiller stood out later on to give Anaheim the win.
The Ducks jumped to an early 2-0 lead after one period with two goals from Bobby Ryan and Matt Beleskey. They dominated zone time and puck control, but one little mistake and one time of poor coverage in their own end led to an Alex Tanguay goal to cut Anaheim's lead in half.
Now only down by one goal, the Flames seemed to have a little more jump in their step, but they couldn't sustain any pressure. Meanwhile, the Ducks were still cooking in Calgary's zone and were able to draw a few penalties, including 90 seconds to work on a 5-on-3. However, thanks to a few posts and some solid saves from Miikka Kiprusoff (who continued to be outstanding afterward), the exhausted Flames penalty killers were saved from going down further.
By the third period, Calgary slowly found its way into Anaheim's zone, and soon they had the bulk of the chances and shots. Luca Sbisa was aiming to make a hit on Tim Jackman as he was about to pass the Ducks' blueline, and as he makes his hit, Sbisa leads with his head, causing contact between Sbisa's helmet and Jackman's chin
Sbisa received a five-minute major for "head butting" and was also given a 10-minute misconduct.
Interestingly enough, the Flames started to play their best hockey of the game after the incident and Jarome Iginla stepped up to score a goal for the 2-2 tie.
After a hard-fought overtime period, the shootout showcased the goaltenders for both teams. It went to eight rounds, with Hiller coming out one better than Kiprusoff after Niklas Hagman scored and Hiller made a huge save, keeping the puck from squirting through the five-hole. This is the Flames' 14th straight loss at the Honda Center.
Calgary is now three points out of eighth place with 55 points. Anaheim is still 13th in the West, but are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games.
PHOTO: Visiting Red Wings Fans Can't Even Help Sparse Phoenix Hockey Crowds
by Travis Hughes
If I were a hockey fan in the Phoenix area, I'm not sure I'd go to a game either. The Coyotes aren't an awful team on the ice or anything -- they're hanging around in the very difficult Western Conference playoff race, and they picked up a big win against Detroit on Monday night at Jobing.com Arena.
But it's sort of like the Atlanta syndrome, right? The ownership is atrocious -- or, in this case, it might as well be non-existent -- and the constant threats of relocation are enough to scare you away from committing your time to the cause. Being a fan is an investment. You're putting in your time and your money, and you hope to be rewarded with a championship at some point.
That's was the catch-22 for fans of the Atlanta Thrashers, and it's the problem that faces any franchise with ongoing ownership strife and relocation as a potential solution to those issues.
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Feb 07 9:02a