SB Nation - Keith Yandle

Phoenix Coyotes @ Anaheim Ducks - Game Preview #36

OdinMercer — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 19:49:24 -0000

The Dead Zone: Where it seems every Coyotes -Ducks game is broadcast.

The Coyotes and Ducks meet this afternoon for the fourth time this season, and for the third time, neither team is broadcasting the game on television. Last game the Coyotes scrambled at the last minute to put the arena feed with radio coverage on Center Ice, but not this time. Can someone in the league offices please make sure that Someone is broadcasting every game? I mean seriously people pay good money to see all the hockey games and then we hit these types of games? Ridiculous. Not only that but most fans have only been able to see 1 of the games between these teams all year! I get that they're Pacific division opponents and that we see them all the time, but really? 1 of 4. Stellar job guys.

And as I'm typing this we get word that the game will once again be broadcast with the arena feed and Ducks radio. Well at least I get to see it since I have Center Ice, but everyone else is outta luck.

Five for Winning

Play Strong, but not Desperate Defense
It seemed like our defense and players in general were all over the place against the Blue Jackets on Thursday. A defense should be moving, but they were jumping all over the place to try and cover the Jacket's attackers. Typically when they get like that bad things happen, but they made it work of them on Thursday. They'll need to calm things down tonight though.

Point Pinching
The lone regulation goal was netted by Keith Yandle when he came in from the point to bury one. When done right that type of play has been extremely effective for us not only by Yandle, but Jovanovski, Vandermeer and Aucoin have all been productive for us when they come into the play.

Shootout Boost?
Both Shane Doan and Robert Lang have been slow to get on track with their goal scoring this year. However in the shootout they were the go to guys for Coach Dave Tippet and both of them buried their chances. Sure, they aren't regulation goals, and they don't show up on the score sheet, but maybe they can finally help both guys find the back of the net.

Stop Taking Dumb Penalties
The Coyotes took all kinds of sloppy penalties in the last game. another too many men, several stick infractions, just lazy stuff that sent them to the box. Sure out PK has been great, but you can only give the other team so many chances before they make you pay like Rick Nash did.

Leave no Doubt!
The Coyotes have won two of the three meetings against the Ducks this year, but all three games have been decided by one goal. How about this time we locate some of that offence that we found in Toronto and let our division rival have it.

Key Players

Taylor Pyatt

#14 / Left Wing / Phoenix Coyotes

Height: 6-4

Weight: 230

Born: Aug 19, 1981

Jonas Hiller

#1 / Goalie / Anaheim Ducks

Height: 6-2

Weight: 193

Born: Feb 12, 1982

While he may not have scored in the last game, Taylor Pyatt has found his scoring touch as of late and on an energy line has found ways to score important goals. We'll need those goals to beat Jonas Hiller who has an impressive record against the Coyotes at 7-0-2 with 2.20GAA and .927 Sv%

The Owie List

Phoenix Coyotes Injuries

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Kurt Sauer	head	10/07/2009

Anaheim Ducks Injuries

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Teemu Selanne	hand	12/04/2009
Ryan Carter	foot	11/12/2009
Joffrey Lupul	back	12/09/2009

Coyotes Continue Hot Streak with 2-1 Shootout Win

OdinMercer — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:53:51 -0000

More photos » by Jay LaPrete - AP

7 days ago: Phoenix Coyotes' Sami Lepisto, left, of Finland, and teammate Keith Yandle celebrate a goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets during the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Dec. 17, 2009, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

Browse more photos »

As Dave Strader said at the end of the game, sometimes you play well and get a tough loss and sometimes you play poorly and manage to get the win. That Coyotes were definitely the latter tonight as they probably didn't deserve the W in that performance.

Just 1:48 into the game Keith Yandle took a Jackets' turnover and weaved through a surprised Columbus Defense to take Mathieu Garon top shelf for the Coyotes only regulation goal. The Coyotes would play about 5 more minutes of their typical puck controlling game before the parade to the penalty box started. For the rest of the night the Coyotes seemed to find any way they could to get back into the penalty box. too many men on the ice, silly interference calls. Whatever it took. The box attendant brought lots of Christmas cookies or something I guess. It didn't help to have Rick Nash trying to sell every tap that he received as an elbow. We were really doing enough to shoot ourselves in the foot without a dive thrown in.

Despite all of our poor play we managed to play some decent defense. While Jason LaBarbera did have many issues in terms of effectively getting the puck to his teammates he was solid in goal all night. He stopped the Jackets on many chances that looked easy to convert. He was able to hold them at bay until the middle of the third when after yet another penalty Rick Nash buried in on the Power Play. The Coyotes were even able to weather a penalty the went through the final minute of the 3rd and into overtime. The Coyotes continued to play on their heels for most of the OT frame as well as they just couldn't get much going. Shane Doan almost became the hero after getting the puck in the slot all alone in the slot. Mathieu Garon made a great glove save though to force the shootout.

In the skills competition Kristian Huselius started things off for the Blue Jackets but got stonewalled by LaBarbera. Radim Vrbata was first on the Coyotes side but got push wide to the left and couldn't keep a handle on the puck. Rick Nash then made a sick move on Jason LaBarbera faking him to the left and then pulled the puck through the crease to score. Shane Doan was up next and he put it into the top right corner to even things up. Fedor Tyutin came up next but didn't even get the shot off as LaBarbera poke checked the puck away before he really got close. Robert Lang was the third shooter for the Coyotes and didn't take what was the hardest move, but wristed the puck straight through Mathieu Garon's pads to end the Game and earn the two points.

Overall I didn't like how the Coyotes played. Somehow they found a way to keep the chances to a minimum but they were throwing themselves everywhere and couldn't get any kind of steady system going. LaBarbera bailed them out and all the bounces seemed to go their way. We can't plan on getting too many more gifts like we did tonight though. The guys should be able to recharge and get things back on track for Saturday's game against the Ducks.

Game 35 Preview: Desert Dogs invade Columbus

Mike MacLean — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:05:36 -0000

More photos » by Ann Heisenfelt - AP

Browse more photos »

I've got to admit, watching the Jackets tumble down the standings is no fun at all. Not to say that I am a fair-weather fan- because I will be loyal to this team no matter what- but I'd be lying if I said it's difficult to find the energy to be passionate about the team right now.

The pieces are in place to win. The system is in place to win. The schedule has favored the Jackets so far this season, at least on paper, but they can't beat the teams they are supposed to. If they could only give a total effort, they might still be at the top of the standings where they were in October.

Tonight's game sees some interesting line combinations- the Dispatch is reporting that the top line will consist of Umby, Chimmer and Nasher, with Chimmer playing center. The second line has the "Killer Vees" reunited, a combination of Jake and Vermy, who started the season out great together. The third line, the " Tre-Kroner" line has the three Swedish forwards playing together, while the fourth line see Brass buried between Murr-Dogg and Boller. Interesting to say the least. It's obvious that the top line consists of the three forwards who are playing the best right now. Mase gets the start.

EDIT: Looks like Hitch is going with Garon tonight, interesting move.

Phoenix has been a tough play at home, but they played last night, shit-kicking the Leafs in Toronto. This could go either way, either the 'Yotes build off their momentum or they will show up fatigued. My guess is that with their sound defensive system they will still be fresh, and the Jackets need to be ready for that. To ensure a victory, the Jackets need to set the tone early, not fall into the trap that Phoenix will set. The first goal or two will be crucial tonight.

Fearless Prediction :I'm not going to predict a damn thing tonight. I am going to watch the game, and hope for a win.

Game Time: 7:00pm ET

Opponent's Blog: Five For Howling

Game Page: Coyotes vs Blue Jackets Coverage

TSN Preview: Coyotes vs Blue Jackets Preview

TV: FSN Ohio

Radio: WBNS-AM (1460); WWCD-FM (101.1)

More after the jump...

From the Columbus Dispatch:

Anybody remember the last time the Blue Jackets established a forecheck? The Jackets won 2-0 in Phoenix on Oct. 10, but the Coyotes got even Oct. 28, a 4-1 victory in Nationwide. Phoenix has won the past four games in Nationwide, outscoring the Blue Jackets 16-7. Phoenix won 6-3 last night at Toronto.

Jackets Links:

Columbus Blue Jackets / Columbus Blue Jackets Schedule

Columbus Blue Jackets Roster / Columbus Blue Jackets Stats

Here are the lineups for tonight's tilt:

Columbus Blue Jackets

R.J. Umberger	Jason Chimera	Rick Nash
Raffi Torres	Antoine Vermette	Jakub Voracek
Kristian Huselius	Samuel Pahlsson	Fredrik Modin
Andrew Murray	Derick Brassard	Jared Boll

Fedor Tyutin	Anton Stralman
Mike Commodore	Jan Hejda
Kris Russell	Mathieu Roy

Mathieu Garon

Steve Mason

EXTRA: Michael Blunden, Marc Methot

INJURED: Rostislav Klesla, Derek Dorsett

Phoenix Coyotes

Shane Doan	Matthew Lombardi	Scottie Upshall
Petr Prucha	Martin Hanzal	Radim Vrbata
Taylor Pyatt	Robert Lang	Peter Mueller
Vernon Fiddler	Daniel Winnik	Lauri Korpikoski

Zbynek Michalek	James Vandermeer
Keith Yandle	Ed Jovanovski
Adrian Aucoin	Sami Lepisto

Jason LaBarbera

Ilya Bryzgalov

Coyotes Celebrate Cinco de Coyo(te), Bryzgalov Gets Shutout in 2-0 Win.

OdinMercer — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:15:48 -0000

More photos » by Ross D. Franklin - AP

17 days ago: Phoenix Coyotes' Ilya Bryzgalov (30), of Russia, celebrates his shutout win with teammate Keith Yandle (3) at the end of the third period after an NHL hockey game against the Minnesota Wild Monday, Dec. 7, 2009, in Glendale, Ariz. The Coyotes defeated the Wild 2-0. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Browse more photos »

Woooooo! 5 wins in a row baby! Have a Margarita tonight because it's Cinco de Coyo! The fans around the arena were certainly high-fiving and celebrating and while there's still a long way to go, a shutout win over the Wild certainly made everyone feel good and elevated the Coyotes to 37 points on the season. It also sets up a matchup with the Kings on Thursday that will be for the fifth place spot in the West and 2nd in the division either way. But enough with standings and all that poppycock. To the gameness!

First of all I was really annoyed that Mikkel Boedker was a scratch tonight. I'm glad Peter Mueller got to come back and played fairly well but Mikkel Boedker has played his pants off lately and not gotten any reward for it. I get that Tippett doesn't want to use younger layers as that just doesn't fint into his scheme, but to call him up and use the minutes he's played pretty well and get no reward is disappointing at best. Then the guy I highlighted in the pregame Cal Clutterbuck, was a scratch as well as I guess he got some sort of illness that's been going around. His absence didn't really decrease the amount of hitting and all around scrapping as the teams would get into hitting matches and fights especially later in the game.

For the most part the game itself was an outstanding goalie battle. Both Ilya Bryzgalov and Niklas Backstrom were outstanding, but the Phoenix offense was just good enough to get a missed rebound past him for the first goal by Scottie Upshall. Then Shane Doan made a fantastic move to get the puck to Taylor Pyatt who scored his third goal in as many games. On the offensive end that was the entirety of the production offensively.

In the third period though the game started to get away from the officials in a big way. Mid way through the period Ed Jovanovski made a big hit on one of the Wild players (I can't recall who it was) but there was no penalty and the Minnesota players wanted to go after him. The hitting picked up in a big way after that with Winnik, Upshall and Jovo all getting hits on people within a short time. The emotions boiled over at the end of the game with a huge scrum in the corner. Keith Yandle threw a few punches in the middle of the crowd, but Vernon Fiddler grabbed a guy out of the pile and simply beat the hell out of him. Owen Nolan and Keith Yandle almost went after each other too, but the officials were able to clear the players off the ice so that the team and the crowd could celebrate what really mattered in Ilya Bryzgalov's shutout. I wouldn't be surprised if there were some fines or suspensions handed out because of the after the horn activities.

Coyotes at Oilers - Game Preview #24

OdinMercer — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:15:08 -0000

The Phoenix Coyotes arrive in Edmonton via Helicopter to take on the Oilers on Monday, November 23rd.

View full size photo »

So I was going back through the archives of the beginnings of this site and found something in my posts that I missed. Quality mocking pictures. AP Photos have been great and I'll continue to use them, but really I love putting up random stuff for opposing teams. I like a good photoshop. I even like the odd LOLcat here or there. So from now on MORE FUNNY PICTURES! Because I'm not a serious person and this is fun time.

On to the serious serious business of our game tonight. Our Injury picture is starting to look up at least a little. Matthew Lombardi was back last game and Ed Jovanovski is on the trip, but no one is sure if he'll be in tonight, not even the Phoenix Coyotes. Zbynek Michalek is getting closer to coming back and reports have him skating in practice. So we've done fair with them out and are getting better. Hopefully that means we can weather injuries that come later in the season as well. For Edmonton, they've been in a bit of a funk losing 5 of 6 and now being without Nikolai Khabibulin with a back issue as well as a laundry list of players like Mike Comrie, Denis Grebeshkov and Fernando Pasani among others. So we aren't the only ones fighting the injury bug.

Five for Winning:

Get the Goalie!: Jeff Deslauriers hasn't gotten a whole lot of ice time this year only getting 5 starts and going 2-2-1 in his chances. He's sporting a .895 save percentage and a 2.96 GAA. Not bad, but not outstanding. Fun fact, he's allowed one more goal in each start than his previous start. 10/12/09 - 1 goal against Nashville, 10/25/09 2 goals against in Vancouver, 11/10/09 - 3 goals against in Ottawa, 11/18/09 - 4 goals against versus Colorado and on 11/21/09 5 goals against versus Chicago. I can only Conclude the Coyotes will score 6 goals tonight.

Our PK has been great as of late!: We even made the top ranked PP unit in the league look silly on Saturday. We're playing responsible and agressive instead of lazy and waiting for things to happen and it's really paying dividends. While we don't have a shorthanded goal yet, we're getting chances and eating up the time efficiently.

Still getting defensive contributions: Keith Yandle has been solid on the blueline with other big names absent and it's really made a difference. He's been more responsible with the puck and is pinching at the right times instead of all the time. The payoff has been that he's been racking up the assists and even some goals like the one against the Flyers.

Time for Mueller to Step up!: Yeah, the HNIC guys are idiots, but if Peter Mueller doesn't start elevating his game soon those dumb rumors may come true. He's had periods here and there where he looks solid, but overall he still looks lazy and isn't winning battles. More importantly he's simply been invisible. Start getting things done Peter or you'll be trade bait for something GMDM and Dave Tippett want.

Dominate the Circle: Phoenix went from being one of the worst teams at faceoffs to one of the top teams this season. The Coyotes have won 51.9% of all the faceoffs they've taken. On the other end, Edmonton is dead last in the league in faceoffs at 45.8%. That should mean more puck control time and more opportunities for the Coyotes.

GO YOTES!

Referees factor into Coyotes win over Flyers

zyllyx — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:06:01 -0000

More photos » by Ross Franklin - AP

Philadelphia Flyers' Kimmo Timonen (44), of Finland, argues with linesman Thor Nelson after Keith Yandle of the Phoenix Coyotes scored a go-ahead goal in the third period after linesmen disagreed over an offsides call (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Browse more photos »

One of the unfortunate buzzworthy topics in the current NHL season has been the quality - or lack thereof - of the refereeing.

Disagreements with the boys in the zebra suits are part and parcel of professional sports fandom, but it seems as though the 2009-2010 NHL hockey season has had more than its share of borderline, questionable, and outright blown calls. The current joke - riffing on the now-infamous Brad May "non-goal" against the Dallas Stars - goes that the referees are exercising their "intent to suck."

Coyotes fans have had to weather bad refereeing in several games this year, but on Saturday night they found themselves in the strange position of having earned two points over the Philadelphia Flyers by virtue of two very questionable calls.

The Coyotes and Flyers were knotted at 1-1 heading into the third period when the first controversial call occurred. As the period moved past its halfway point, the Coyotes found themselves on the power play. While cycling the puck, Adrian Aucoin bobbled a pass by the Flyers' blueline above the right circle. The view from the left side of the ice was clear - the puck traveled across the blueline and the left linesman indicated offsides.

However, whether he was screened or whether he saw something that almost everyone in the arena didn't, the right linesman energetically waved off the offsides. The Flyers bench went ballistic and coach John Stevens erupted into passionate arguing. Unfortunately for the Flyers, play continued - Aucoin passed to Matthew Lombardi, who found Keith Yandle at the right circle. Yandle's rocket shot cleared Flyers goalie Ray Emery and the Coyotes took a 2-1 lead.

Scott Hartnell indicated that the confusion over the non-call contributed to the Coyotes' goal by distracting Emery. "You can't blame Ray for that one," Hartnell said. "He thought what we all did."

Although Yandle's goal would prove to be the game-winner, the controversy wasn't over. With just over 30 seconds to go in the game, Shane Doan found himself with the puck with Emery off the ice for a sixth attacker. Driving to the net, Doan passed Philadelphia's Chris Pronger, who reached out with his stick. Doan's shot dribbled past the right post, and then the play was blown dead with 39.9 seconds remaining as the Flyers gained control of the puck.

Pronger headed to the penalty box, arguing vehemently with the referees. But what looked to be a Coyotes power play turned into something strange as the Coyotes players suddenly began clapping Doan on the back. Eventually, the scoreboard changed to 3-1, Pronger was let out of the box, and the game ended in a welter of confusion. No goal horn, no replay, and more importantly no puck in the net. And yet, there it was - 3-1.

The referees, it turned out, had judged Pronger's hook to be worthy of a penalty shot. And according to the NHL's rule 26.1, which reads:

A goal will be awarded to the attacking team when the opposing team has taken their goalkeeper off the ice and an attacking player has possession and control of the puck in the neutral or attacking zone on, without a defending player between himself and the opposing goal, and he is prevented from scoring as a result of an infraction committed by the defending team.

...Doan was credited with an awarded goal... even though his eventual shot never got close.

Pronger, of course, was livid. "He (the referee) said I got him on the hands but I got him on the stick," he said after the game. "I disagree. I didn't think it should have been a goal. I didn't even think it was a penalty. He had his stick down. How am I going to get him on the hands when I lifted his stick?"

Needless to say, the Flyers fans in attendance at Jobing.com Arena - who made up almost half of the crowd of just over 11,000 - left disappointed, bewildered and more than a little bitter. But even Coyotes fans were filing out of the arena, more sheepish than jubilant after having two points essentially gifted to them by the refereeing crew. Some fans were already rationalizing the events of the game as karmic retribution for bad calls against them earlier in the season, but all around the arena there were signs of Coyotes fans in animated conversation with Flyers fans, most likely commiserating on a very strange end to a very strange third period.

It is now almost two months since Terry Gregson took over for Stephen Walkom as head of the NHL's officiating department, but games like the Coyotes - Flyers tilt are starting to draw some unwelcome attention in a season already rife with tension and pessimism from issues such Southern market struggles, the NHLPA fiasco, the player safety debate, and issues with DirecTV and VERSUS.

While it is true that the quality of officiating reaches an equilibrium over the course of a given season, the sheer weight of dispute this early in the campaign does not bode well for the NHL's officiating crews. Bad officiating is at least a nuisance, but on this scale any inaction on the part of the NHL will only spell bad publicity for the league.

Coyotes fans love having two more points - but to get them in such a controversial fashion makes some fans nervous. Who can tell whether later in the season the scales will shift to the other side?

Here is the video recap of the game from NHL Video - judge for yourself.

Coyotes @ Blues - Preview #22 - 3rd Time Already?!

OdinMercer — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:18 -0000

More photos » by Paul Battaglia - AP

Phoenix Coyotes defenseman Keith Yandle (3) has hops.

Browse more photos »

The Phoenix Coyotes stroll into St. Louis to take on the Blues tonight after downing the Wild 3-2 last night. This is already the third time the two teams have met in this young season. The Coyotes have won both previous games, one 3-2 in OT and the other 2-0 in St. Louis. Maybe this game will actually have a little bit of flow to it unlike the other games. THough if it means Ilya Brygalov gets another SO, i'll take no flow :D

Five for Winning:

Damn Right Bryz Starts: The Coyotes site said they expected him to, but someone better guaran-damn-tee me that Ilya Bryzgalov is going to start for the second night in a row after how Jason LaBarbera played last time. That and Bryz seems to have the Blues number along with making saved he didn't even see coming last night. Be the man Bryzzie!

Upshall be Clutch: Scottie Upshall is leading the team in goals with 7 after last night's tally. No offense to the Carcillo loving people, but right now we're winning that trade. Sorry to say, well not really because Uppy has been awesome but I think you get what I mean.

Defensive Scoring wins games: I don't have all the statistics in front of me right now, but it seems like whenever we get a little bit of input from the defense we end up winning the game. Jim Vandermeer got a goal and Keith Yandle got an assist last night and we won the game. How about we continue that model for the foreseeable future?

Their house is our house: The Blues have been terrible at home this year going 3-8 at home. No idea what the problem is there, but I have zero problem exploiting their issues. 3-9! 3-9!

Score first!: We don't seem to be doing that a whole lot, but when we do, we win 82% of the time. THat's 6th in the league in that awkward statistic. If we let the other team score first? 30% of those become wins. So... Let's score first eh?

GO YOTES!

Coyotes vs. Lightning - Game Preview #20

OdinMercer — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:00:14 -0000

Woo! A one game winning streak for the Phoenix Coyotes! Way to go! Kidding kidding, but it's time to get on a roll again and Rick Tochett and the Tampa Bay Lightning are just the team to make that happen tonight. The Bolts roll in to Jobbing.com Arena sporting a (7-4-6) record. What is it with teams and the OTL lately anyways? Whatever. I know this, I have a friend on the internet that is a cousin of rookie Lightning forward James Wright. So yeah. Take that!

Five for Winning:

Don't Be Slumpbusters: Vincent Lecavillier and Martin St. Louis only have 5 combined goals. Don't be the ones to get them out of the streak by giving up a bunch of cheap ones.

Sharing the Credit: Ilya Bryzgalov did great in goal on Saturday, by he shared the credit with the rest of the team. "The guys blocked everything, tremendous PK. They played so bravely, blocking everything, sliding in to the slot hard, just everywhere, competed hard." But we don't get that win without some great saves buy the Hot Dog King of Glendale. He's been the backbone of this team and we need him to keep coming up big.

Goals from unexpected places: The last few games we've gotten goals from Paul Bissonnette, David Schlemko and Keith Yandle. No offense to those guys, but we weren't looking for much offensive production outside of maybe some assists from them so that's been great. We'll need continued production form "unlikely" sources to do well this year, so it's nice to see some guys with early season goals.

...However we aren't getting goals from the usual suspects: Radim Vrbata got one against Dallas, Robert Lang got a couple and Scottie Upshall did a few games ago, but our "Big Names" have been pretty quiet as of late. Shane Doan has gotten some assists, but hasn't found the back of the net consistantly, Peter Mueller hasn't done much since getting his first of the year and others like Petr Prucha, Matthew Lombardi and Martin Hanzal have played well, but just haven't gotten the puck to go in. We need to start seeing some more goals for soon.

Just get rolling again: We've been a streaky team all year. We NEED winning streaks, and not to be giving up a game everytime we win one. The Lightning have some talent, but are certainly beatable. They have 2 points we need, so let's go get 'em!

Note: Kevin Porter has been recalled from San Antonio. No word on if he'll be in the lineup for tonight's gome or if he'll be a scratch.

GO YOTES!

Olympics Watch: Americans off to hot starts

James Mirtle — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:57:07 -0000

More photos » by Don Heupel - AP

Browse more photos »

Following up on a look at the hottest Canadian players in the NHL so far this season, here's a look at which American players may be impressing the Team USA brass so far:

Goal

	Player	Team	GP	GS	W	L	OT	GAA	Sv%
1	Ryan Miller	BUF	10	10	8	1	1	1.86	0.936
2	C. Anderson	COL	15	15	10	3	2	2.11	0.936
3	Ty Conklin	STL	5	4	2	2	0	2.34	0.921
4	Tim Thomas	BOS	9	9	4	5	0	2.66	0.910
5	Jon Quick	LAK	13	13	8	3	2	2.59	0.905
6	J. Howard	DET	5	3	1	2	1	3.42	0.879

Thomas may be the reigning Vezina winner, but it's hard to argue with Miller and Anderson making the team based on their starts. The Americans have the NHL's two hottest netminders so far.

Defence

	Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-
1	Alex Goligoski	PIT	14	5	7	12	12
2	Matt Carle	PHI	11	2	10	12	9
3	James Wisniewski	ANA	9	0	9	9	6
4	Ryan Whitney	ANA	12	1	6	7	3
5	Erik Johnson	STL	12	0	7	7	3
6	Ryan Suter	NSH	13	2	5	7	2
7	Jordan Leopold	FLA	12	1	5	6	2
8	Brian Rafalski	DET	12	1	5	6	-1
9	Zach Bogosian	ATL	10	5	1	6	-2
10	Keith Yandle	PHX	13	1	4	5	-2
11	Matt Niskanen	DAL	12	0	5	5	-3
12	John-Michael Liles	COL	8	2	3	5	-4

There will definitely be some interesting decisions to make on the Americans back end, with some of the less-heralded names playing th best to this point. Whitney, Suter, Rafalski and Johnson were the only ones invited to the team's summer camp.

Forward

	Player	Team	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PPG	+/-
1	Zach Parise	NJD	L	12	6	8	14	1.17	7
2	J. van Riemsdyk	PHI	L	9	2	8	10	1.11	4
3	Ryan Malone	TBL	L	11	8	3	11	1.00	2
4	Dustin Brown	LAK	L	14	4	9	13	0.93	0
5	Patrick Kane	CHI	R	13	4	8	12	0.92	4
6	Tim Connolly	BUF	C	11	4	6	10	0.91	-1
7	Ryan Kesler	VAN	C	15	5	8	13	0.87	0
8	Jason Pominville	BUF	R	11	3	6	9	0.82	2
9	Kyle Okposo	NYI	R	13	3	7	10	0.77	0
10	Keith Tkachuk	STL	C	12	3	6	9	0.75	1
11	R.J. Umberger	CBJ	C	13	4	5	9	0.69	-3
12	J. Langenbrunner	NJD	R	12	2	6	8	0.67	6
13	Mike Knuble	WSH	R	14	3	6	9	0.64	7
14	Bill Guerin	PIT	R	14	3	6	9	0.64	5
15	Scott Gomez	MTL	C	14	2	7	9	0.64	0
16	Brandon Dubinsky	NYR	C	15	3	6	9	0.60	6

More tough calls here, probably, especially with players young and old like Van Riemsdyk and Tkachuk. Connolly and Pominville were not at the orientation camp but could play their way onto the roster in the next month or so.

Coyotes Defeat Ducks in Shootout, Win Third Straight

OdinMercer — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 09:27:55 -0000

More photos » by Ross D. Franklin - AP

Browse more photos »

The Coyotes battled though a extremely chippy game last night to take down the Ducks for the team's third win in a row. THe Coyotes took the lead early on a pretty goal from Robert Lang. Lang is really starting to get back to form after signing with the Coyotes at the beginning of the season, missing training camp. The goal was nice and his passes were spot on. Shortly after the goal, as Shane Doan was carrying the puck into the offensive zone, he recieved a hard hit from James Wisniewski that the refs tought was a shoulder, but it looked to me like he followed through with an elbow. Either way, Doan was slow to get up and was woosy when he did. Keith Yandle went after Wisniewski in retaliation and while not a fighter did good in standing up for the captain. The game was much harder following the hit as the Coyotes were looking to hit anyone and everyone on the Ducks squad. George Parros and Paul Bissonette went at it late in the period as well. Doan did return as well to an ovation from the crowd.The period ended with all the players on the ice grabbing and pairing off but the refs were able to separate everyone and get to the locker rooms without any fights.

To start the second though Doan immediately found Wisniewski and took him on himself. Doan got in a few good shots including the takedown was well as another punch after Wisniewski was down. 8 minutes into the period Corey Perry would score on a 5 on 3 power play to tie up the game. Other than that the 2nd was pretty slow as both goaltenders made some quality saves to keep it tied.

In the 3rd Teemu Selane would give the Ducks the lead with a knucklepuck the squirted between Ilya Bryzgalov's arm and body for a goal. Bryz wasn't too happy with it even though the puck changed directions on him. The Coyotes didn't get down though, they went right back to work tying the game back up at 2-2 on a Vernon Fiddler goal just 18 seconds later. That's something that last year's version of the team wouldn't have been able to do, but the skaters bailed out Bryz after he'd done the same for them so many times. The period ended tied at 2 to go to overtime.

Nothing was decided in the extra frame so we went to the shootout. Radim Vrbata would score the only goal for either side winning for the Coyotes. The Coyotes other shooters, Shane Doan and Lauri Korpikoski, both clanged their tries off the posts and Bryzgalov stymied Perry, Getzlaf and Selane.

Other Notes:

Peter Mueller was a healthy scratch as he has yet to score a goal this year. Hopefully the view from the press box did him some good.
With the win the Coyotes move into 4th in the Western Conference with a game in hand on all Pacific Division foes other than the Ducks.
At 9-4-0 with 18 points, this is the best October the Coyotes have had.