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COYOTES 3, Predators 2
Renberg scores as Phoenix beats Nashville
PHOENIX (AP) -- Shane Doan expected to provide more offense this season, but not nearly to the degree he has.
Doan scored his 25th goal of the season and Mikael Renberg added his 150th career goal as the Coyotes beat the Nashville Predators 3-2 Wednesday night for their fourth win in five games.
The Coyotes pulled even with the Los Angeles Kings for fifth place in the Western Conference.
Mika Alatalo also scored for Phoenix, which plays host to San Jose on Friday before ending the regular season Sunday at Dallas.
Doan's goal triggered a $300,000 bonus in his contract, a clause which seemed improbable at best for a player with 22 career goals entering the season.
"It's nice to be able to contribute offensively," said Doan, whose 50 points for Phoenix are second only to Jeremy Roenick's 76 points. "This year, it was certainly in my mind that I needed to contribute more offensively than I had in the past."
Goalkeeper Sean Burke preserved the win with 13:54 remaining when he stopped Scott Walker on a breakaway after the defenseman had stolen a lazy pass at the top of the Predators' zone.
"I tried to challenge Scotty and hope he made the first move," said Burke, who has started 14 of the Coyotes' last 15 games. "I thought I was deep enough to keep him from faking me."
Greg Johnson and David Gosselin scored for the Predators, who have lost six of their last eight.
The Coyotes have made their late-season run without captain Keith Tkachuk, who practiced on Wednesday, but was scratched for the fourth straight game with a sprained left ankle.
Tkachuk originally sprained the ankle Jan. 31 in a 5-3 victory over Detroit, sat out one game, then aggravated the injury Feb. 12 against Calgary and has appeared in just three games since.
Tkachuk also was given a two-game suspension for high-sticking Colorado defenseman Aaron Miller on March 23.
Tkachuk, who recorded consecutive 50-goal seasons in 1996-97 and 1997-98, also has missed time because of a sore neck, and neck and back spasms. The 28-year-old left winger has missed 29 games this year and 49 games over the past three seasons to injury.
Phoenix is 13-15-2 without Tkachuk.
"We found a way to win and that's all that matters in the playoffs," Doan said. "It doesn't matter if you play well as long as you win."
Nashville took a 1-0 lead in the first period when Vitali Yachmenev passed the puck to Johnson, who was standing alone in the low slot. After a couple of fakes, Johnson pulled the puck to his forehand and flipped it over Burke's right shoulder.
"That was a mistake everybody in the building witnessed and something we have to correct," Phoenix coach Bob Francis said.
Renberg tied the game five minutes later on a hard shot from between the circles. Nashville goalie Mike Dunham got a piece of the shot with his right skate, but the puck trickled behind him to give Renberg his first goal since March 11.
"It was bad luck," Dunham said. "Most nights that probably hits me. Sometimes it's going to go in. I just shook it off."
Alatalo used a fortuitous bounce to put the Coyotes ahead 2-1 at 3:15 of the second period. Louie DeBrusk bounced a 60-foot wrist shot off the far post, the puck rolled softly onto Alatalo's stick, and he scored into an open net.
Doan extended Phoenix's lead to 3-1 when he fought off a check by Karlis Skrastins and scored midway through the second period.
Gosselin pulled the Predators to 3-2 when he redirected Skrastins' knuckling shot past Burke.
Summary
-----------------------------
Nashville 1 1 0--2
Phoenix 1 2 0--3
-----------------------------
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Nashville, Johnson 11 (Yachmenev, Houlder),
8:23. 2, Phoenix, Renberg 10 (Roenick, Daigneault), 13:26. Penalties:
Burke, Pho (interference), 3:38; Phoenix bench, served by Daigneault (too
many men on the ice), 4:49.
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, Phoenix, Alatalo 10 (Debrusk, Roenick),
3:15. 4, Phoenix, Doan 25 (Adams, Odelein), 11:10. 5, Nashville, Gosselin
2 (Skrastins), 18:06.
THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: Robitaille, Nas (Obstr
tripping), 5:22; Neckar, Pho (cross checking), 9:21; Namestnikov, Nas
(interference), 12:28.
Shots on goal:
---------------------------------
Nashville 9 8 8--25
Phoenix 4 12 3--19
---------------------------------
Power-play Conversions: Nas - 0 of 3, Pho - 0 of 2. Goalies: Nashville,
Dunham (19 shots, 16 saves; record: 19-26-6). Phoenix, Burke (25, 23;
record: 19-19-3). A:13,872. Referees: Roberts, Shick. Linesmen: Cameron,
Cvik.
INDIVIDUAL PLAYER STATISTICS
Nashville Phoenix
G A +/- Shots G A +/- Shots
Bordeleau 0 0 -1 2 Adams 0 1 even 1
Bu Berenzweig 0 0 even 2 Alatalo 1 0 +1 1
D Berehowsky 0 0 -2 1 Carney 0 0 even 1
Fitzgerald 0 0 even 2 Daigneault 0 1 -1 0
Gosselin 1 0 even 2 Debrusk 0 1 +1 2
Houlder 0 1 +1 0 Doan 1 0 even 3
Johnson 1 0 +1 2 Drake 0 0 even 2
Kjellberg 0 0 even 1 Green 0 0 even 0
Legwand 0 0 even 1 Hogue 0 0 even 2
Millar 0 0 even 2 Joseph 0 0 +1 0
Namestnikov 0 0 even 0 Letowski 0 0 even 1
Peltonen 0 0 -1 1 Lumme 0 0 +1 1
Robitaille 0 0 -1 2 Neckar 0 0 +1 0
Ronning 0 0 even 3 Numminen 0 0 even 2
Skrastins 0 1 -1 0 Odelein 0 1 even 1
Valicevic 0 0 even 1 Renberg 1 0 even 1
Walker 0 0 -1 2 Roenick 0 2 +1 0
Yachmenev 0 1 even 1 Sullivan 0 0 even 1
Mowers Knee Injury Tkachuk Ankle Injury
M Moro Ankle Injury Suchy Healthy
Boikov Shoulder Ylonen Hip Injury
Lintner Shoulder
Timonen Ankle Injury
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