The Lightning got no shots on goal in the second period, and Essensa (8-0-1), the only unbeaten goalie in the NHL, made 17 saves Thursday night in Phoenix's 3-1 victory.

  "I've never experienced that before," said Essensa, who got his career record above .500 (150-149-42) with his eight consecutive win. "They did have a couple of chances, a couple of 2-on-1s, but J.J. (Daigneault) played one great and took away the pass, and the second one just got shot wide.

  "So they had a couple of opportunities where they could have gotten shots, but we dominated."

  The victory was also the Coyotes' eighth in a row -- one short of a 15-year-old franchise record.

  Dallas Drake scored in the second period for Phoenix, and Jeremy Roenick and Keith Tkachuk added goals in the third.

  Reid Simpson ruined Essensa's shutout bid with 1:38 left in the game by scoring his first goal of the season.

  Roenick, who assisted on both goals by his linemates, scored on Phoenix's first penalty shot since last season.

  "It ended up being a big goal," Roenick said. "That was one of the tougher games we've had this year, mainly because they worked so hard. They're in your face, and they take a lot of the passing lanes away. We had to battle and grind for everything we got."

  The Coyotes made up for their goalie crisis -- Nikolai Khabibulin is a holdout, and Sean Burke is injured -- with crisp defense and a relentless attack.

  Phoenix outshot the Lightning 36-18, including a franchise-record 20-0 barrage in the second period. It was the first time in Winnipeg-Phoenix history the team held an opponent without a shot for 20 minutes.

  It happened to Tampa Bay this season, when Philadelphia held the Lightning shotless in the second period on Nov. 22.

  Dan Cloutier took the loss despite making 33 saves, including 19 in the second period.

  The Coyotes were averaging nearly four more shots in the first period than their opponents, but the Lightning outshot them 10-8 with several flurries in the late stages, forcing Essensa to make three saves in the final 41/2 minutes.

  "I think where we lost the game was in the first period," Tampa's Darcy Tucker said. "We had five or six opportunities point-blank, and we just didn't bury them."

  Phoenix took six shots in the first 4:47 of the second period, and Drake scored on the last, knocking a rebound past Cloutier for his fifth goal this season and 100th of his career.

  Cloutier stopped shots by Roenick and Tkachuk in the series, but couldn't keep the second rebound in the crease. Drake beat him on the glove side with a 10-footer.

  Phoenix was scoreless in four power plays, getting all four from defenseman Petr Svoboda, who was ejected with 6:27 left in the second period after throwing Tkachuk to the ice from behind.

  Svoboda drew a minor penalty for hooking, another for unsportsmanlike conduct when he whacked his stick on the ice on front of referee Kevin Maguire, a 10-minute and game misconducts when he continued to argue with Maguire.

  Tampa Bay killed the double power play in Cloutier's brightest moment.

  But he wasn't ready when Roenick got the puck at center ice on a penalty shot with 9:11 left in the game. Roenick skated to the crease, veered right and flicked the puck just behind outside Cloutier's outstretched leg for his 15th goal.

  "We call that the 'beanpot move,"' Drake said. "Jeremy has used it to beat guys like Patrick Roy, and it's his favorite move. We knew it was coming, but he couldn't stop it."

  Lightning coach Steve Ludzik was livid afterward, denying that defenseman Sergey Gusev gloved the puck in the crease as the officials determined.

  "It's a 1-0 game, and all he did was shove the puck at the goalie," Ludzik said. "I don't know, maybe we're getting payback for the Svoboda thing."

  Tkachuk got his 12th of the season with a one-timer after a pass from Drake behind the net.

Summary

NHL FINAL               1ST  2ND  3RD     TOTAL
                        ---  ---  ---     -----
    TAMPA BAY            0    0    1        1
    PHOENIX              0    1    2        3  FINAL

    GOAL SCORING:

      1ST PRD: NONE 
      2ND PRD: PHO - DALLAS DRAKE 5 (KEITH TKACHUK, JEREMY ROENICK) 4:47
      3RD PRD: PHO - (PS) JEREMY ROENICK 15 10:49
               PHO - KEITH TKACHUK 12 (DALLAS DRAKE, JEREMY ROENICK) 14:23
               TAM - REID SIMPSON 1 (STEVE MARTINS) 18:22

   POWER-PLAY CONVERSIONS: TAM - 0 OF 2, PHO - 0 OF 4.

   SHOTS ON GOAL:       1ST  2ND  3RD     TOTAL
                        ---  ---  ---     -----
                  TAM   10    0    8       18
                  PHO    8   20    8       36

         GOALIES: TAM - DAN CLOUTIER, KEVIN HODSON(18:22,3RD)
                  PHO - BOB ESSENSA

       OFFICIALS: REF - MAGUIRE
                  LIN - CVIK, SHARRERS

             ATT: 13,522




Bert's back on blades Blue Jays boot game Bombers drop Peterson Felicien rebuilds race

Do you think Coyotes players should be punished for their actions after the team’s Game 5 loss to the Kings?   Yes   No   Unsure Results | Story Visit our Polls Archive