Confident Phoenix Coyotes destroy Dallas Stars 4-1 - NHL Update
Wins over two top teams, San Jose Sharks and Detroit Red Wings, seems to have given Phoenix Coyotes a big boost of confidence as they easily swept aside Dallas Stars, 4-1, on Tuesday, February 7th, 2012.
Both teams entered the game equal on points and needing victory to continue their push for the playoff spots.
It was the Coyotes however, who looked the hungrier for a win as they pounded Dallas into submission to move up to ninth in the Western Conference.
Coyotes are tied on points with Minnesota Wild who occupy the eighth spot and it seems that the former’s season is in for a repeat of last year’s second half burst that saw the team move into the playoffs with a late surge.
Coyotes are currently ninth in the Western Conference with a 25-21-8 record and 58 points after their third straight win.
"This was a tight game and points we had to have against a team we wanted to leapfrog in the standings," said Coyotes' coach, Dave Tippett, once coach of the Stars. "Our guys came out and played accordingly."
The Dallas Stars have dropped down the Western Conference with a 27-23-2 record and 56 points and will now look to regain momentum after a poor performance.
The Stars failed to take advantage of any of their four power plays, and even though they outshot the Coyotes, 29-24, they were unsuccessful in their attempts to beat Coyotes' goaltender, Mike Smith.
Stars' goaltender Kari Lehtonen made 20 saves but could not stop Coyotes' rampant offence.
Dallas Stars' defenseman, Sheldon Souray was livid after the game at the performance and panned the team’s efforts in such a crucial match.
"Awful, atrocious. I don't know, We've gotten by on a really good goaltender our last three or four games and it's just not good enough. We can talk about it and try to figure it out and point fingers, but really as a whole, we've really been letting ourselves
down, especially as important as this stretch of games is and what it means."
Phoenix went ahead early in the first period with Keith Yandle putting them 1-0 up at 4:43.
Dallas had to wait a whole period before equalising as they beat Coyotes' goaltender, Mike Smith for the first and last time.
Michael Ryder at 2:34 did the honours after brilliant work in the build-up by Philip Larsen.
The stalemate ended at 14:30, courtesy of Radim Vrbata, who scored to give Phoenix a 2-1 lead.
Two third period goals by Raffi Torres and Derek Morris secured a comfortable 4-1 win for the Coyotes.
Phoenix will now face Calgary Flames at home on Thursday, February 9th, 2012 while the Dallas Stars have a great opportunity to return to winning ways against the hapless Columbus Blue Jackets.
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