GAME THREAD: NHL: PHOENIX (13-16) at NEW JERSEY (17-14)

NHL: PHOENIX at NEW JERSEY

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
NHL
PHOENIX 4
NEW JERSEY 1</div>

 

By Daren Smith
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


NEWARK, New Jersey (Ticker) -- By the time the New Jersey Devilsfigured out the Phoenix Coyotes' "top-secret goalie," it wastoo late.


Mikael Tellqvist made 31 saves in his first start in five weeksand Fredrik Sjostrom collected two goals and an assist as theCoyotes snapped the Devils' five-game home winning streak with a4-1 victory on Saturday.


Tellqvist had not started since November 8, making only twoappearances off the bench following the acquisition of netminderIlya Bryzgalov. After learning he'd be facing first-place NewJersey, the 28-year-old joked, "We're playing our top-secretgoalie."


Tellqvist showed no signs of rust against the top team in theAtlantic Division, coming within six minutes of his fifth careershutout.


The Swede was at his best during a New Jersey power play withseven minutes to go in the second period, denying Brian Giontafrom point-blank range, foiling Patrik Elias on the rebound andstopping Jamie Langenbrunner's one-time blast from just belowthe left point.


That flurry came a minute after Tellqvist's most spectacularsave.


John Madden carried down the right side, deked around defensemanDerek Morris and cut to the net, where Tellqvist stacked hispads to stop a quick snap shot.


Rookie Martin Hanzal scored a clinching shorthanded goal andadded three assists, while linemate Radim Vrbata chipped in agoal and two assists as the Coyotes improved to 2-1 on asix-game road trip.


Zach Parise's shorthanded tally averted the shutout for NewJersey, which is 1-2-1 following a nine-game winning streak.

Devils' goaltender Martin Brodeur made 34 saves.

 

NHL: PHOENIX at NEW JERSEY

<div class="pre">NHL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
PHOENIX 0 1 3 4
NEW JERSEY 0 0 1 1 FINAL

GOAL SCORING:

1ST PRD: NONE
2ND PRD: PHO - FREDRIK SJOSTROM 6 (MARTIN HANZAL, RADIM VRBATA) 3:32
3RD PRD: PHO - RADIM VRBATA 12 (MARTIN HANZAL, FREDRIK SJOSTROM) 5:19
PHO - (PP) FREDRIK SJOSTROM 7 (NIKO KAPANEN, MARTIN HANZAL)
9:08
NJD - (SH) ZACH PARISE 15 (SERGEI BRYLIN, PATRIK ELIAS)
14:00
PHO - (SH) MARTIN HANZAL 3 (RADIM VRBATA, ZBYNEK MICHALEK)
17:10

POWER-PLAY CONVERSIONS: PHO - 1 OF 9, NJD - 0 OF 4.

SHOTS ON GOAL: 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
PHO 9 17 12 38
NJD 10 13 9 32

GOALIES: PHO - MIKAEL TELLQVIST
NJD - MARTIN BRODEUR

OFFICIALS: REF - DAN O'ROURKE, DEAN MORTON
LIN - MARK PARE, SCOTT DRISCOLL

ATT: 16,636</div>

 

NHL: PHOENIX at NEW JERSEY

<div class="pre">NHL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
PHOENIX 0 1 3 4
NEW JERSEY 0 0 1 1 FINAL

GOAL SCORING:

1ST PRD: NONE
2ND PRD: PHO - FREDRIK SJOSTROM 6 (MARTIN HANZAL, RADIM VRBATA) 3:32
3RD PRD: PHO - RADIM VRBATA 12 (MARTIN HANZAL, FREDRIK SJOSTROM) 5:19
PHO - (PP) FREDRIK SJOSTROM 7 (NIKO KAPANEN, MARTIN HANZAL)
9:08
NJD - (SH) ZACH PARISE 15 (SERGEI BRYLIN, PATRIK ELIAS)
14:00
PHO - (SH) MARTIN HANZAL 3 (RADIM VRBATA, ZBYNEK MICHALEK)
17:10

POWER-PLAY CONVERSIONS: PHO - 1 OF 9, NJD - 0 OF 4.

SHOTS ON GOAL: 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
PHO 9 17 12 38
NJD 10 13 8 31

GOALIES: PHO - MIKAEL TELLQVIST
NJD - MARTIN BRODEUR

OFFICIALS: REF - DAN O'ROURKE, DEAN MORTON
LIN - MARK PARE, SCOTT DRISCOLL

ATT: 16,636</div>

 

NHL: PHOENIX at NEW JERSEY

<div class="pre">------------------------------------
Phoenix 0 1 3 --4
New Jersey 0 0 1 --1
------------------------------------

FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: N Kapanen, Pho (tripping), 2:32; D Morris,
Pho (hooking), 13:51; J Oduya, Njd (hooking), 16:49.

SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Phoenix, Fredrik Sjostrom 6 (Martin Hanzal,
Radim Vrbata), 3:32. Penalties: S Brookbank, Njd (hooking), 5:20; J
Oduya, Njd (roughing), 7:43; M Hanzal, Pho (holding), 12:31; B Gionta,
Njd (slashing), 15:09; M Mottau, Njd (tripping), 19:02.

THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 2, Phoenix, Radim Vrbata 12 (Martin Hanzal,
Fredrik Sjostrom), 5:19. 3, Phoenix, Fredrik Sjostrom 7 (power play)
(Niko Kapanen, Martin Hanzal), 9:08. 4, New Jersey, Zach Parise 15
(shorthanded) (Sergei Brylin, Patrik Elias), 14:00. 5, Phoenix, Martin
Hanzal 3 (shorthanded) (Radim Vrbata, Zbynek Michalek), 17:10.
Penalties: V Vishnevski, Njd (holding), 1:26; S Brookbank, Njd
(hooking), 6:18; J Langenbrunner, Njd (unsportsmanlike cond), 7:15; D
Carcillo, Pho (major fighting), 12:26; D Clarkson, Njd (fighting
served by D Zubrus, roughing major), 12:26; M Tjarnqvist, Pho
(hooking), 15:45.

Shots on goal:
---------------------------------------
Phoenix 9 17 12 --38
New Jersey 10 13 8 --31
---------------------------------------

Power-play Conversions: Phoenix - 1 of 9, New Jersey - 0 of 4. Goalies
: Phoenix, Mikael Tellqvist (31 shots, 30 saves; record: 5-3-0). New
Jersey, Martin Brodeur (38 shots, 34 saves; record: 15-11-2). A:
16,636. Referees: Dan O'Rourke, Dean Morton. Linesmen: Mark Pare,
Scott Driscoll.</div>

 

NHL: PHOENIX at NEW JERSEY

<div class="pre">-----------------------------------------
PHOENIX 0 1 3 --4
NEW JERSEY 0 0 1 --1
-----------------------------------------

FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: N Kapanen, Pho (tripping), 2:32; D Morris,
Pho (hooking), 13:51; J Oduya, Njd (hooking), 16:49.

SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Phoenix, Fredrik Sjostrom 6 (Martin Hanzal,
Radim Vrbata), 3:32. Penalties: S Brookbank, Njd (hooking), 5:20; J
Oduya, Njd (roughing), 7:43; M Hanzal, Pho (holding), 12:31; B Gionta,
Njd (slashing), 15:09; M Mottau, Njd (tripping), 19:02.

THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 2, Phoenix, Radim Vrbata 12 (Martin Hanzal,
Fredrik Sjostrom), 5:19. 3, Phoenix, Fredrik Sjostrom 7 (power play)
(Niko Kapanen, Martin Hanzal), 9:08. 4, New Jersey, Zach Parise 15
(shorthanded) (Sergei Brylin, Patrik Elias), 14:00. 5, Phoenix, Martin
Hanzal 3 (shorthanded) (Radim Vrbata, Zbynek Michalek), 17:10.
Penalties: V Vishnevski, Njd (holding), 1:26; S Brookbank, Njd
(hooking), 6:18; J Langenbrunner, Njd (unsportsmanlike cond), 7:15; D
Carcillo, Pho (major fighting), 12:26; D Clarkson, Njd (fighting
served by D Zubrus, roughing major), 12:26; M Tjarnqvist, Pho
(hooking), 15:45.

Shots on goal:
----------------------------------------
PHOENIX 9 17 12 --38
NEW JERSEY 10 13 8 --31
----------------------------------------

Power-play Conversions: PHO - 1 of 9, NJD - 0 of 4. Goalies : Phoenix,
Mikael Tellqvist (31 shots, 30 saves; record: 5-3-0). New Jersey,
Martin Brodeur (38 shots, 34 saves; record: 15-11-2). A: 16,636.
Referees: Dan O'Rourke, Dean Morton. Linesmen: Mark Pare, Scott
Driscoll.

INDIVIDUAL PLAYER STATISTICS

PHOENIX NEW JERSEY
G A +/- Shots G A +/- Shots
M Hanzal 1 3 +2 3 R Pelley 0 0 even 1
D Carcillo 0 0 even 0 J Madden 0 0 -1 2
M York 0 0 -1 1 B Gionta 0 0 -1 3
R Vrbata 1 2 +3 4 J Langenbrunner0 0 even 4
S Doan 0 0 -1 4 D Zubrus 0 0 -2 0
K Ballard 0 0 +1 0 S Brylin 0 1 +1 2
F Sjostrom 2 1 +2 3 T Zajac 0 0 -3 1
M Tjarnqvist 0 0 even 0 V Vishnevski 0 0 even 2
S Reinprecht 0 0 -1 1 A Asham 0 0 even 2
D Winnik 0 0 even 4 D Clarkson 0 0 -1 4
N Kapanen 0 1 even 2 P Elias 0 1 -1 3
Z Michalek 0 1 +2 1 M Mottau 0 0 +1 0
J Perrault 0 0 even 3 K Rachunek 0 0 -3 1
N Boynton 0 0 +1 1 J Oduya 0 0 -1 0
M Jones 0 0 even 1 C White 0 0 even 0
D Morris 0 0 +1 5 A Greene 0 0 -1 1
E Jovanovski 0 0 even 4 S Brookbank 0 0 even 0
P Mueller 0 0 even 1 Z Parise 1 0 +1 5
M Zigomanis HEALTHY J Pandolfo GROIN
C Weller HEALTHY M Rupp HEALTHY
K Yandle HEALTHY P Martin LOWER BODY INJURY</div>

 

By Daren Smith
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


NEWARK, New Jersey (Ticker) -- The Phoenix Coyotes are ready forprime time - in Sweden.


Mikael Tellqvist made 31 saves in his first start in five weeksand fellow Swede Fredrik Sjostrom collected two goals and anassist as the Coyotes snapped the Devils' five-game home winningstreak with a 4-1 victory on Saturday.


Tellqvist had not started since November 8, making only twoappearances off the bench following the acquisition of netminderIlya Bryzgalov. He showed no signs of rust against the topteam in the Atlantic Division, coming within six minutes of hisfifth career shutout.


"I felt a little stiff at the beginning, but I got a couple ofeasy saves at the start and the guys came up big in the secondand third (periods) for us," Tellqvist said. "I kind of workedmyself into the game."


The former third-round draft pick was at his best during a NewJersey power play with seven minutes to go in the second period,denying Brian Gionta from point-blank range, foiling PatrikElias on the rebound and stopping Jamie Langenbrunner's one-timeblast from just below the left point.


That flurry came a minute after Tellqvist's most spectacularsave.


John Madden carried down the right side, deked around defensemanDerek Morris and cut to the net, where Tellqvist stacked hispads to stop a quick snap shot.


"I didn't really feel any pressure at all," Tellqvist said. "Itried to have as much fun as possible. The first save was keyfor me."


Tellqvist's performance came in a game that was televised to aprime time audience in his homeland.


"I talked to my mom and dad last night and they told me (thegame would be televised)," Tellqvist said. "It was a prettygood time, too, 7 o'clock. And Freddie scored two goals. Iguess we should show all our games back to Sweden."

"All the buddies sitting home watching, it was definitely a lotof fun to have a game like that," added Sjostrom, who returnedfrom a lower back injury suffered in the second period.

Rookie Martin Hanzal scored a clinching shorthanded goal andadded three assists, while linemate Radim Vrbata chipped in agoal and two assists as the Coyotes improved to 2-1 on asix-game road trip.


"This is a big trip for us because we have tough teams to playagainst," Vrbata said. "We wanted to make sure we bounced back(from Thursday's loss to the New York Islanders)."

Zach Parise's shorthanded tally averted the shutout for NewJersey, which is 1-2-1 following a nine-game winning streak.

"We didn't work hard enough for the win, there's no way aroundthat," Parise said. "That makes it more frustrating, when theeffort's not there."


Devils coach Brent Sutter echoed that theme after his team wasforced to kill nine power plays.


"The difference was, one team came to the rink to play a hockeygame and the other team came to the rink to see what time theirreservations for supper were going to be tonight," he said.

Following a scoreless first period, Sjostrom got the Coyotesgoing on their initial shot of the second. Hanzal had the puckdown low and backhanded a pass through the slot to a breakingSjostrom, whose one-timer from the left circle trickled pastgoaltender Martin Brodeur.


Vrbata made it 2-0 at 5:19 of the third, threading a tight-angleshot from the left side between Brodeur's right arm and thenear goalpost for his team-leading 12th goal.


Sjostrom struck again less than four minutes later. Helped tothe locker room after crashing hard into the end boards in thesecond period, he added a power-play goal to build a 3-0cushion.


Parise jammed a loose puck past Tellqvist with six minutes toplay, but the Devils' comeback hopes were dashed when Hanzalbeat Brodeur on a shorthanded breakaway off a feed from Vrbatawith 2:50 remaining.


"I'll take that (injury) any day to get a win like that,"Sjostrom said.


Brodeur stopped 34 shots for New Jersey, which has lost threestraight against Phoenix since February 12, 2003.

 

NHL: PHOENIX at NEW JERSEY

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
NHL
PHOENIX 4
NEW JERSEY 1</div>

 

By Daren Smith
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


NEWARK, New Jersey (Ticker) -- The Phoenix Coyotes are ready forprime time - in Sweden.


Mikael Tellqvist made 31 saves in his first start in five weeksand fellow Swede Fredrik Sjostrom collected two goals and anassist as the Coyotes snapped the New Jersey Devils' five-gamehome winning streak with a 4-1 victory on Saturday.

Tellqvist had not started since November 8, making only twoappearances off the bench following the acquisition of netminderIlya Bryzgalov. He showed no signs of rust against the topteam in the Atlantic Division, coming within six minutes of hisfifth career shutout.


"I felt a little stiff at the beginning, but I got a couple ofeasy saves at the start and the guys came up big in the secondand third (periods) for us," Tellqvist said. "I kind of workedmyself into the game."


The former third-round draft pick was at his best during a powerplay for New Jersey with seven minutes to go in the secondperiod, denying Brian Gionta from point-blank range, foilingPatrik Elias on the rebound and stopping captain JamieLangenbrunner's one-time blast from just below the left point.

That flurry came a minute after Tellqvist's most spectacularsave.


John Madden carried down the right side, deked around defensemanDerek Morris and cut to the net, where Tellqvist stacked hispads to stop a quick snap shot.


"I didn't really feel any pressure at all," Tellqvist said. "Itried to have as much fun as possible. The first save was keyfor me."


Tellqvist's performance came in a game that was televised to aprime-time audience in his homeland.


"I talked to my mom and dad last night, and they told me (thegame would be televised)," Tellqvist said. "It was a prettygood time, too, 7 o'clock. And Freddie scored two goals. Iguess we should show all our games back to Sweden."

"All the buddies sitting home watching, it was definitely a lotof fun to have a game like that," added Sjostrom, who returnedfrom a lower back injury suffered in the second period.

Rookie Martin Hanzal scored a clinching shorthanded goal andadded three assists, while linemate Radim Vrbata chipped in atally and two assists as the Coyotes improved to 2-1-0 on asix-game road trip.


"This is a big trip for us because we have tough teams to playagainst," Vrbata said. "We wanted to make sure we bounced back(from Thursday's loss to the New York Islanders)."

Zach Parise's shorthanded tally averted the shutout for NewJersey, which is 1-2-1 following a nine-game winning streak.

"We didn't work hard enough for the win, there's no way aroundthat," Parise said. "That makes it more frustrating, when theeffort's not there."


Devils coach Brent Sutter echoed that theme after his team wasforced to kill nine power plays.


"The difference was, one team came to the rink to play a hockeygame and the other team came to the rink to see what time theirreservations for supper were going to be tonight," he said.

Following a scoreless first period, Sjostrom got the Coyotesgoing on their initial shot of the second. Hanzal had the puckdown low and backhanded a pass through the slot to a breakingSjostrom, whose one-timer from the left faceoff circle trickledpast goaltender Martin Brodeur.


Vrbata made it 2-0 at 5:19 of the third, threading a tight-angleshot from the left side between Brodeur's right arm and thenear goalpost for his team-leading 12th goal.


Sjostrom struck again less than four minutes later. Helped tothe locker room after crashing hard into the end boards in thesecond period, he added a power-play goal to build a 3-0cushion.


Parise jammed a loose puck past Tellqvist with six minutes toplay, but the Devils' comeback hopes were dashed when Hanzalbeat Brodeur on a shorthanded breakaway off a feed from Vrbatawith 2:50 remaining.


"I'll take that (injury) any day to get a win like that,"Sjostrom said.


Brodeur stopped 34 shots for New Jersey, which has lost threestraight against Phoenix since February 12, 2003.