Phoenix Coyotes rally in third to edge Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 -NHL Update
After a confidence boosting victory over one of the top teams in the east, the Florida Panthers, Phoenix was not about to let this momentum get out of their hands as the Coyotes edged the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-3, after a third period rally on Wednesday
night, December 21, 2011, at the RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States.
Cam Ward, the Carolina goalie, was having yet another difficult day as he faced only 19 shots throughout the 60-minute contest but still fell short on four while his counterpart in the Phoenix net, Jason Labarbera, had to divert 37 shots and managed to let
only three through him.
Carolina is on a two-game losing streak after having lost the previous to the Florida Panthers in an overtime decider and now to Phoenix.
Veteran Phoenix forward, Ray Whitney, kicked off the scoring with his 12th goal of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season in the opening two minutes of the first period as Carolina’s Jay Harrison gave an early power play opportunity
after being booked for interference with a minor penalty.
Carolina was quick to answer back as Tuomo Ruutu potted his 11th nearly midway through the first to level the contest heading into the mid period.
The Hurricanes swept the second period as Andreas Nodl inaugurated his scoring with his first goal of the season 5:49 in while Jiri Tlusty extended the home lead in the next few minutes.
Phoenix managed to stay alive in the contest with Cal O’Reilly scoring his second and bring the Coyotes within reach of the score by one.
"We had the mindset that if we would come out and play well then we could get the four points", Phoenix coach Dave Tippett said. "Even though we didn't play as well as we liked all the time, we still got the four points and that's a good sign".
Rostislav Klesla and Lauri Korpikoski scored two straight for Phoenix to give them a one point lead midway through the third and final period of regulation, which they managed to maintain and take the match out of Carolina’s hands.
"What we have to learn is to be more resilient", new Carolina coach, Kirk Muller, said. "We got that third goal and I thought we were in good shape. When they got that second goal and you can see our body language and the team dropped its energy”.
Phoenix has the next against the St. Louis Blues at home on Friday while Carolina will be facing Ottawa Senators the same day.
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