SB Nation - Peter Mueller

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

7 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)

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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 Ducks: Game Preview #27

zyllyx — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 21:04:30 -0000

More photos » by Jason Redmond - AP

Phoenix Coyotes center Martin Hanzal of the Czech Republic (11) shoots wide as Anaheim Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller of Switzerland defends in the third period of a NHL hockey game in Anaheim, Calif., Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Jason Redmond)

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The Phoenix Coyotes bring an end to a grueling three-week stretch of games with only seven off days on Sunday with a divisional matchup with the Anaheim Ducks at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Sunday's game will be the third game already between the bitter rivals in the young season, each team with a victory apiece in the previous two tilts.

What Happened Last Game?

Really? You don't remember? It was an arena full of awesome! The Coyotes chased Marty Turco out of his net in a 5-2 win over the Dallas Stars at Jobing.com Arena. Lauri Korpikoski was the first star of the night after tallying his first two goals of the season, and linemates Scottie Upshall and Matthew Lombardi each had three assists to help the team to a convincing victory.

It was only the second time that the Coyotes have scored as prolifically, and the first margin of victory of three or more goals in 14 consecutive games. The young Mutts did everything on the Five For Winning Game Preview checklist except for one - keeping the penalties balanced - which means that when the Coyotes listen to their very wise and perceptive bloggers, success follows naturally.

Which means that I'd probably better make this

FIVE FOR WINNING

extra special for the game against Anaheim.

Play With An Edge
It's no secret. These teams hate each other. Lots of teams hate the Ducks because the Ducks play a hard-nosed, gritty, in-your-face style of play, but the Coyotes and Ducks seem to reserve their worst inclinations and loudest chirping for each other. It makes for some thrilling sideshows to go along with the hockey; it also makes for more than a few cheap shots like this "Elbow Heard Round The World" from James Wisniewski on Shane Doan. The proper response to such play, of course, is illustrated by Captain Coyote himself, to wit:

Now, as satisfying as that is to watch, a lot of the shenanigans that happen between these two clubs happen out of sight of the referees even with Chris Pronger douching it up in Philadelphia (I'm looking at you, Corey Perry). So the Coyotes will have to play with their heads up and be ready to weather some tough hockey.

Feel The Bryz
Let's not beat around the bush. There is nobody more motivated on the Coyotes' squad to beat this Ducks team than Ilya Bryzgalov, he of the hot dog fetish and unnaturally high falsetto. He was aiming for a league-leading fourth shutout against Dallas before a couple of quick third-period goals dashed his hopes. But, barring any last-minute change of policy or injury, the Mutts are going to roll with their number one goalie and his fourth-best-in-the-league 2.12 GAA again on Sunday. Extra motivation is always welcome, and any time Bryzgalov faces his former squad the motivation is there in spades.

Play Competent Hockey for Sixty Minutes
This may seem strange to those readers who are new to the Coyotes, but long-time fans will know exactly what I'm saying here. I mentioned this in the last game preview (so I'm a bit redundant - give me a break, I'm just a fill-in for The Big Guy). The Coyotes are playing good hockey for the first time in what seems like forever this season, and they're doing much better at giving a consistent effort through the whole game instead of for only a period or two. Let's not beat around the bush - for most of the past decade, the Coyotes have been lottery candidates and for good reason. My wife attends games very infrequently - partially because she hated the way the Coyotes kept losing so embarrassingly. She was at the Dallas game last night and said (this is verbatim): "I didn't think these guys would ever learn how to play hockey... but I guess I was wrong." So, Coyotes, keep it up!

Play Through The Pain
There's no question - the Coyotes are starting to feel the wear-and-tear of the 82-game NHL season. Factor in the "Olympic Squeeze" during November where they've played a whopping ten games in just over two weeks, and you've got a recipe for a lot of agony. Fortunately, there are a lot of young guys on the team roster to provide raw young health. But after Ed Jovanovski, Vernon Fiddler, and Peter Mueller all left the Dallas game early with injuries, Sunday's game might end up being one of survival of the fittest. There's still no word as of this writing whether any or all of those three players will be back in the lineup against Anaheim, but it's a sure bet that they're not the only ones feeling the weight of such a demanding schedule. Grit your teeth, boys - you'll have a four-day layoff to heal when this one's done.

Build The Streak
The Coyotes once again avoided losing three in a row with their win over Dallas on Friday. Astoundingly enough, the Coyotes haven't lost three in a row all season. That's the good news. The bad news is that they haven't built a win streak all month after a strong October. Sunday's game would be a great start for a winning streak. It is, after all, the holiday season - why not give your fans a gift of a few consecutive victories?

Key Players

Corey Perry

#10 / Right Wing / Anaheim Ducks

Height: 6-3

Weight: 209

Born: May 16, 1985

Why? Corey Perry is one of those players that fans love to hate - he has a reputation for dirty play and cheap shots, and he rubs a lot of people the wrong way - but you just can't argue with his statistics. Perry already has 30 points this season (tied for 5th in the league) and is one of the hottest players around. This is a guy the Coyotes need to contain if they can - if they can't, it will be a long night for the Mutts.

Matthew Lombardi

#15 / Center / Phoenix Coyotes

Height: 6-0

Weight: 198

Born: Mar 18, 1982

Why? Lombardi is one of the Coyotes' hottest players right now. He scored three assists against Dallas and has three assists against Anaheim in the two games between the clubs so far this season. Lombardi's speed and playmaking abilities will be crucial in generating offense against a Ducks team that is gaining momentum.

The Owie List

Phoenix Coyotes Injuries

Questionable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Vernon Fiddler	undisclosed	11/28/2009
Ed Jovanovski	other-excused	11/28/2009
Peter Mueller	other-excused	11/28/2009

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Kurt Sauer	other-excused	10/07/2009

Did You Know?

The Coyotes are seventh in the Western Conference, tied with 29 points with Nashville and Dallas. The Mutts are tied for sixth in the league in wins (14) after 26 games, are fourth in goals against per game, 12th in both PP and PK, and an incredible 7th in faceoff percentage.

Final Thought

OdinMercer has been gone since Wednesday, and while I have had a terrific time being the fill-in blogger here at Five For Howling, I'll be happy to let him have the keys back to the car. Don't worry, Big Guy, it may read empty on the gas gauge but there are still a few fumes left!

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.

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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!

HNIC Hotstove suggests Mueller on the outs; Ireland fired from Rampage

zyllyx — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:33:40 -0000

More photos » by Matt York - AP

Peter Mueller scores his first goal of the season against Chicago Blackhawks goalie Cristobal Huet Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Matt York)

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Saturday night, CBC's Hockey Night in Canada dropped a bombshell of a rumor: Phoenix Coyotes forward Peter Mueller, the club's top draft pick in 2006 (8th overall), could end up on the trading block.

The situation was discussed briefly at the end of HNIC's "Hotstove" segment during Saturday night's broadcast. Hockey analyst Pierre LeBrun mentioned that he "[didn't] think Phoenix wants to dump [Mueller] but that he might not be getting along with [coach] Dave Tippett."

The 21-year-old Mueller, a native of Bloomington, MN, is in his third season with the Coyotes. He is 1-3-4 and -3 after 21 games going into tonight's tilt against the Edmonton Oilers.

Mueller was slated to take on top line duties with Coyotes captain Shane Doan this year, but under Tippett's regime he has seen his icetime - and his stats - dip significantly.

The highly-touted Mueller made a big splash during his rookie season, notching 22 goals and 32 assists for 54 points. His sophomore season, however, saw the youngster struggle through a season-long slump, finishing with 13-23-36.

While it is natural for young players to slump in their sophomore years thanks to a season's worth of scouting by other teams, it was suggested in some quarters that Mueller's attempt to gain weight and muscle between seasons may have detrimentally affected his play. During the most recent offseason, Mueller was known to be working to build leaner muscle and increase his aerobic conditioning to build back his stamina. The results seemed to be clearly in Mueller's favor, with the young forward looking speedier and more agile than during his second-year campaign.

However, with two months of the 2009-2010 season now in the books, Mueller has seen his role significantly reduced. It may be that Tippett, who rewards good play with increased ice time, is not pleased with Mueller's defensive play. Although Mueller has worked on his defensive game he does not follow up on his checks with the intensity of others on the team and has a tendency to float on occasion. More problematic is the intangible of "hustling," and Mueller, whose personality is very low-key, has been criticized - rightly or wrongly - for his lack of "hustle" on the ice.

What cannot be debated is Mueller's shot percentage, which has plummeted from around 10% in his first two years to a paltry 2.9% thus far this season. Even on a team which is geared towards defensive hockey, this stat speaks volumes for a player who is ostensibly one of the team's top snipers.

Mueller is not the first young forward to be in Tippett's doghouse - Danish forward Mikkel Boedker, who started the season with the Coyotes, played an average of 4 minutes per game before being sent down to AHL San Antonio during October.

One of the criticisms of Tippett's coaching preferences has been that he may lack patience with younger prospect players. Clearly, it is too soon and too small of a sample size to make a judgment on whether that criticism is accurate. But if Tippett is losing patience with Mueller to the point that a trade has become a considerable option, the scrutiny should increase greatly on the head coach's methods.

Phoenix as a franchise learned a hard lesson about the virtues of patience with young players after their trade of Danny Briere for Chris Gratton, and though Briere's breakout has been helped greatly by the rules changes following the lockout season the trade still stands as one of the franchise's biggest gaffes.

All that being said, however, it is very premature for trade talk to start swirling around Peter Mueller. For a player who is only in his third NHL season and who is trying to learn a new coach and system, the idea that he is trade bait at this juncture makes little sense no matter how pundits and analysts might wish otherwise.

Could Mueller become a movable piece at the deadline? Perhaps, depending on the Coyotes' position in the standings and depth needs. Clearly, the Coyotes have a surfeit of depth in San Antonio should Mueller be moved for a needed asset. But the suggestion by the CBC's pundits that Mueller is on the block now at the quarter-pole of the season seems premature at best and predatory and opportunistic at worst.

Ireland fired from Rampage after 10-game losing skid

Assistant coach Ray Edwards will be taking the helm of the San Antonio Rampage after coach Greg Ireland was fired Monday.

The Rampage are in the middle of a nasty slump after breaking out of the gates with one of the best records in the American Hockey League. The team's defense has been struggling after Shaun Heshka and David Schlemko were recalled to the Coyotes as injury substitutes.

Coyotes' GM Don Maloney's New York connections continue to make their presence felt, as Mike Pelino, an assistant coach with the Rangers from 2004-2009, will step in to assist coach Edwards.

In other Rampage news, the Anaheim Ducks terminated their relationship with the team this week, leaving the Coyotes as the sole NHL affiliate with the team. The Ducks and Coyotes had "shared" the Rampage roster for the past two months.

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!

Coyotes at Ducks - Game #17 Preview - It's Gonna Get Bumpy

OdinMercer — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:26 -0000

More photos » by Ross D. Franklin - AP

about 1 month ago: Phoenix Coyotes' Paul Bissonnette (12) fights with George Parros (16) in the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

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The Phoenix Coyotes and Anaheim Ducks last met a week ago in a game in Phoenix. It was your average Ducks and Coyotes game until James Wisniewski decided to hit Shane Doan in the face with a forearm and elbow. Doan was woozy after the hit and the Coyotes were just plain pissed. Things were more than a little chippy from that point on. The hits were quite a bit harder and Doan even dropped the gloves with Wizneiwski and got even. Though I'm not so sure that's over with so it should be another hard hitting game tonight (That most here won't see on tv)

Five for Winning

It's Bryz Again: Ilya Bryzgalov is still getting the majority of the starts for the team. Jason LaBarbera was brought in to relieve him and push him, but hasn't really done that. Bryz will get a few days off as the next game isn't until Thursday, but It would also suck to have him get burned out down the stretch. He did great against the Hawks, so hopefully he can keep it up tonight.

Don't let the Hitting Get in the Way: While having a certain amount of physicality going on can make for an intense game, we can't let it be the sole focus and get us off our game. That's exactly what happened for a couple periods last week against them before we bounced back, but I imagine that the Coyotes will come in with a game plan that combines both hitting and skill.

Weather the injuries: Zbynek Michalek is still out with a leg injury of some sort as it's been reported that he has a walking cast on, Kurt Sauer is still out as well. Now Ed Jovanovski is Day-to-Day too. He made the trip with the team to California though, so he may be good to go. If not Shaun Heshka, who was just called up will start in his place. David Schlemko was solid on Thursday and will get Michalek's spot again tonight.

Keep the Special teams Up: 10th in PP% and 13th in PK% is the best our team has had in a Looooooong time. We're far enough into the season to see that it's not just a fluke anymore. In past seasons, the special teams were atrocious on both ends. Our new defensive system has the PK working well and though we don't get much offense in general we find ways to make it happen on the PP.

Getting the Role Players Involved: Daniel Winnik has looked great in this new system. He gets to hot, but in the odd point and leads the team in +/- at a +5. Peter Mueller got his first goal of the year in the last game as well. We need both of these guys to be playing at the top of their games to keep this team in contention.

I'll be watching tonight (I hope).

GO YOTES!

Coyotes Finally Solve Blackhawks In 3-1 Victory

OdinMercer — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:30:24 -0000

More photos » by Matt York - AP

about 1 month ago: Phoenix Coyotes' Peter Mueller (88) scores against Chicago Blackhawks goalie Cristobal Huet, of France, during the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)

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The Phoenix Coyotes have not done well against the Chicago Blackhawks in the past, but tonight, figured out that if they jumped on them early they could make good things happen. Less than 3 minutes into the first period. Martin Hanzal took a pass from Ed Jovanovski into the zone and did just a simple deke which Cristobal Huet bit on and put it right past him for an easy goal. Later in the period Peter Mueller would finally break out of his season long slump getting his first goal. Shane Doan passed the puck to Martin Hanzal in front of the net. Huet made a pad save on his deflection, but Peter Mueller was there to bat it home to extend the lead to 2.

Midway through the 3rd Scottie Upshall would make it 3-0 on a sick wrister that Huet could make the move to get to. David Schlemko, just up from San Antonio made a perfect cross ice pass to set him up an Huet wasn't even close. Though just minutes later the Blackhawks took advantage of a terrible Power Play sequense by the Coyotes to get a shorthanded goal. Not Bryz's finest moment of the night, but with all the other insane saves he made I'm not going to sweat the one goal much.

Other Notes:

Ed Jovanovski appears to have twisted or sprained an ankle. That's not good considering we're down Sauer and Michalek already. No word on the severity of the injury yet but hopefully it's not bad as Michalek is apparently walking around with a cast on his leg and Sauer is still a little ways from coming back.
Seeing Peter Mueller finally get that monkey off his back was great. Hopefully it gets him going as we could use the offensive output.
Our PK was pretty solid tonight, not allowing and PP goals on 6 tries. THe guys did a good job of limiting the time in the zone and protected the blueline very well, frustrating the Chicago PP guys.
On the flipside, our power play has look awful. We can't get in the zone and set for any amount of time. There was a minute here or there where we looked alright, but getting the shortie on us was unacceptable.
Ilya Bryzgalov was solid again. I really don't know what to say about him anmore. With the exception of an off night here or there he's really gotten this team to where it is.
David Schlemko looked pretty good out there, eating ice time and getting an assist.
Daniel Winnik has looked as good as I can remember him being. Hitting guys, blocking shots, digging for pucks and leading the team in +/- with a +5
Martin Hanzal is a beast. If you don't believe me, watch him shutdown your teams' superstars when we play you. Then you'll see. Solid again.

Coyotes at Avalanche - Game #15 Preview

OdinMercer — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:01:05 -0000

More photos » by Ross D. Franklin - AP

about 1 month ago: Phoenix Coyotes' Petr Prucha, top, of the Czech Republic, gets sent to the ice by Los Angeles Kings' Brad Richardson in the third period of an NHL hockey game Monday, Nov. 2, 2009, in Glendale, Ariz. The Kings defeated the Coyotes 5-3. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

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Both the Phoenix Coyotes and the Colorado Avalanche are coming off of some rough losses in their last contests. The Coyotes (9-5-0) were taken out in a sloppy game against the Kings in which there was no rhythm or flow in the game at all and Jason LaBarbera was playing for some reason. Oh. Right. It was so Ilya Bryzgalov could start tonight's game. We'll need him to do well since our goals will likely be few and far between against Craig Anderson. The Avs are also coming off a shutout loss to the Vancouver Canucks. It wasn't even to Roberto Luongo, but to Andrew Raycroft. That's demoralizing. Anyhow...

Five for Winning:

Put a couple behind Anderson: Seems Obvious, but not a lot of teams have gotten to the netminder so far this season. Time to start camping out in front and trying to get deflections. Whatever works.

Mind the Passing: Last game against the Kings wasn't all that great on the puck posession end for either team. We need to get control over our turnovers. It was maddening to see every pass go wrong on Monday, tonight has to be better.

Who to Watch out for: Wojtek Wolski, Paul Stasney, Milan Hejduk and Ryan O'Reilly account for 40% of the Avs' point total. Wolski is the Goals leader with 8 and Stasney and O'Reilly both have 9 assists

Bryz needs to be in Top Form tonight: As noted earlier, Craig Anderson has been a tough nut to crack this year so what few goals we do get need to be protected. THat means Bryz can't let in any soft ones tonight.

Will Mueller be back?: Peter Mueller was scratched from the lineup against the Kings again and Mikkel Boedker was called up from San Antonio. Not sure what the deal with Mueller is, but He's looked lost so far this season and needs to get working hard if he wants a place on this team. How he performs will determine his paycheck as he's an RFA at the end of the season.

Sorry for the lateness, but...

GO YOTES!!!

Coyotes Defeat Ducks in Shootout, Win Third Straight

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

More photos » by Ross D. Franklin - AP

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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.

Coyotes vs. Ducks - Game Preview #13 - QUACK! QUACK! BOO!

OdinMercer — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 21:42:42 -0000

More photos » by Tom Gannam - AP

about 1 month ago: Phoenix Coyotes' Daniel Winnik (34) celebrates with teammates on the bench after scoring a goal in the second period of an NHL hockey game against the St. Louis Blues, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009 in St. Louis.(AP Photo/Tom Gannam)

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The once again hot Coyotes make their way back to Jobbing.com arena tonight to take on the Anaheim Ducks. The Coyotes went 2-1 on the eastern roadtrip with the goaltending once again being the difference maker. Jason LaBarbera was strong against the Blue Jackets and Ilya Bryzgalov shutout the Blues. Maybe LaBarbera as competition for Bryz is actually working out. All of the guys that nobody was really expecting a whole lot from contributed on Thursady. Daniel Winnik got a goal, Taylor Pyatt added the second and Vern Fiddler was again strong on faceoffs and with his passing. Coach Dave Tippett said we'd need scoring by committee to be successful and contributions from that third/fourth line are huge.

Anaheim is coming of a rare win at home in which the lit up the Canucks 7-2. The Ducks have not had a very good start to the season going 4-6-1 for nine points so far. A big reason has been a lack of defensive effort as after the departure of Chris Pronger, the blueline just hasn't had the same punch. That's led to more scoring chances and the goalies haven't helped. J.S. Giguere has been bumped to backup, but has lost all three of his starts (one in OT) of his starts and sports an overall GAA of 3.64 and Jonas Hiller has been iffy as well going 4-4-0 with a 3.06. Hopefully the offensive production was an aberration for the Ducks as well.

No TV coverage locally tonight, so get to the arena or listen on 910AM

Five for Winning

Watch out for the 4th Line: In the Ducks win against the Canucks, it wasn't just Getzlaf and Perry doing the scorring, George Parros got a goal and so Did Mike Brown. Linemate Ryan Cater got an assist on both of the goals as well. We know Hanzal's line will be out there against the big guys, but we also need to make sure that the 4th line scoring for them was a one night only kind of thing.

Watch Out For Ours Too: As previously mentioned, the Winnik-Fiddler-Pyatt line wasmaking things happen on Thursday. Getting those goals for both Winnik and Pyatt looked like real confidence boosters. Especially for WInnik who was snake bitten last year and couldn't find the net to save his life. Hopefully that makes him more willing to shoot and take chances. For Pyatt it should reinforce the idea that collapsing on the next is a good thing. He was on his way to park there as Fiddler found him for that pretty goal.

What's up Mueller?: The slump continues for forward Peter Mueller who has yet to find the back of the net, or really any kind of offensive rhythm. According to the Preview on the Coyotes site "Coyotes forward Peter Mueller still is seeking his first goal of the season. Mueller played a season-low 10:21 on Thursday." That's not a good sign for Peter as it's become clear that you need to earn your ice time on this squad. He needs to pick it up or he's going to be watching a game or two from the press box.

Ilya! Ilya! Ilya!: For Ilya Bryzgalov, leading the league in Shutouts with 3 in this young season is huge. As many Coyotes fans know, if he gets down on himself it's hard to get the confidence back up for the next game quickly and what was a bad performance can snowball into a long streak. But it seems as though he's responding to both good team effort in front of him and being backed up by a competent goalie as well. He's putting in All-Star worthy performances so far which is what we'll need to find the post season this year.

New Jovo?: He's a had a few cone worthy performances this year, but overall he's much improved (though still overpaid) from last year. He's tied for the team lead in both goals (4) and points (12). He's actually laid a few good hits on some people too. It's nice to see him actually leading the blueline by example this year instead of just wearing the A.

GO YOTES!