SLAM! Sports
SLAM! Hockey
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
COLUMNS
NHL
The Teams
Full Schedule
Monthly Schedule
Standings
Statistics
Rosters
Injury list
Movement
Trades
Hits Gallery
INTERACTIVE
JUNIOR
MORE HOCKEY
ALSO ON SLAM!
Coyotes 6, PREDATORS 3
Doan scores twice to lead Coyotes
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Shane Doan is beginning to show why he was the seventh player chosen in the 1995 NHL Draft.
Doan had his second straight two-goal game and set a career high for goals with nine as the torrid Phoenix Coyotes defeated the slumping Nashville Predators 6-3 Tuesday night.
"I think Shane wants to make a statement that scoring three or four goals a year is not good enough," teammate Rick Tocchet said. "He's got a lot of talent."
The line of Doan, Mika Alatalo, and Juha Ylonen had three of the Coyotes' first four goals. Phoenix has won seven straight games, the best run in the NHL this season.
"I just hope to keep it going," Doan said. "I'm so lucky to be playing with those two. They make it so easy."
Phoenix scored three goals in a span of 1:25 in the first period, and killed five of the Predators' six power plays.
"Guys are playing too hesitantly and not confidently," said Nashville coach Barry Trotz.
The loss was a team-record sixth in a row for the Predators, whose goals came on a power-play slap shot by defenseman Drake Berehowsky and third-period slappers by Patric Kjellberg and Kimmo Timonen.
Timonen's goal cut the lead to 4-3 with 4:54 left, but Keith Tkachuk scored less than a minute later for Phoenix. He added another late goal.
Doan's first goal was a snap wrister from the left circle. His second came when he put his own rebound past Tomas Vokoun. Doan's previous high in goals was seven, set in 1995-96 when he was a 19-year-old rookie.
"Shane's playing excellent right now," Tkachuk said. "He's fought through a lot. Shane was brought in at an early age, probably too soon. But now his game has been elevated several notches."
Goaltender Bob Essensa, who was signed as a free agent in September, advanced to 7-0-1. His acquisition was crucial for the Coyotes, who never agreed to terms with Nikolai Khabibulin and recently lost veteran Sean Burke for at least six weeks with a thumb injury.
"Bobby's done a great job for us," Tkachuk said. "He's really stepped up. He was brought in as insurance for Khabibulin. Bob's undefeated right now."
Essensa played the last three years for the Edmonton Oilers.
"With both Nikolai unsigned and Sean out for an extended period, everyone's going to have to tighten up their bootstraps," Essensa said. "So far, so good."
Vokoun remained winless ( 0-7-1) after posting 12 victories last year. Nashville enforcer Patrick Cote (hand) returned after missing eight games, and promptly fought Louie DeBrusk. Center Sebastien Bordeleau (shoulder) was back after sitting out 11 straight.
Cliff Ronning continued his solid play for Nashville with two assists. Ronning has 22 points in 23 games for a club with just seven wins and none since Nov. 18.
"I thought we were going to win the game again," he said. "It took one minute and a half to take that feeling away."
The Phoenix franchise record for consecutive wins is nine, set in Winnipeg in 1985.
Summary
-----------------------------
Phoenix 3 1 2--6
Nashville 0 1 2--3
-----------------------------
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Phoenix, Doan 8 (Alatalo, Ylonen), 11:32. 2,
Phoenix, Alatalo 5 (Ylonen, Doan), 11:46. 3, Phoenix, Tocchet 5 (Letowski,
Adams), 12:57. Penalties: D Berehowsky, Nas (hooking), 1:13; Debrusk, Pho
(tripping), 5:09; Tkachuk, Pho (high sticking), 15:35.
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 4, Phoenix, Doan 9 (Alatalo, Ylonen), 4:19. 5,
Nashville, D Berehowsky 3 (power play) (Krivokrasov, Ronning), 6:58.
Penalties: Debrusk, Pho (fighting major), 2:59; Cote, Nas (fighting
major), 2:59; Roenick, Pho (tripping), 5:49; Tocchet, Pho (interference),
7:53.
THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 6, Nashville, Kjellberg 5 (Ronning, D
Berehowsky), 7:28. 7, Nashville, Timonen 4 (Krivokrasov, Kjellberg),
15:06. 8, Phoenix, Tkachuk 10 (Roenick, Drake), 15:52. 9, Phoenix, Tkachuk
11 (Drake, Roenick), 18:17. Penalties: Tkachuk, Pho (high sticking), 1:32;
Tkachuk, Pho (interference), 11:08; Cote, Nas (roughing), 19:58.
Shots on goal:
---------------------------------
Phoenix 12 10 9--31
Nashville 10 10 9--29
---------------------------------
Power-play Conversions: Pho - 0 of 2, Nas - 1 of 6. Goalies: Phoenix,
Essensa (29 shots, 26 saves; record: 7-0-1). Nashville, Vokoun (31, 25;
record: 0-7-1). A:15,744. Referees: Heyer, Ohalloran. Linesmen:
Kovachik, S Provost.
INDIVIDUAL PLAYER STATISTICS
Phoenix Nashville
G A +/- Shots G A +/- Shots
Adams 0 1 even 3 Bordeleau 0 0 -2 1
Alatalo 1 2 +2 4 Cote 0 0 -1 0
Carney 0 0 +2 0 D Berehowsky 1 1 -4 5
Daigneault 0 0 +3 1 Fitzgerald 0 0 -3 3
Debrusk 0 0 even 0 J Bouchard 0 0 -3 2
Doan 2 1 +2 6 Johnson 0 0 -2 2
Drake 0 2 +1 1 Keczmer 0 0 -2 1
Letowski 0 1 even 2 Kjellberg 1 1 +1 2
Lumme 0 0 +1 1 Krivokrasov 0 2 even 2
Neckar 0 0 +3 0 Legwand 0 0 even 1
Numminen 0 0 -1 2 Millar 0 0 -2 0
Quint 0 0 +1 0 Peltonen 0 0 -1 3
Roenick 0 2 +1 1 Robitaille 0 0 -2 0
Suchy 0 0 -1 0 Ronning 0 2 +1 1
Sullivan 0 0 even 0 Skrastinsh 0 0 +2 0
Tkachuk 2 0 +2 3 Timonen 1 0 +1 3
Tocchet 1 0 +1 6 Valicevic 0 0 -1 1
Ylonen 0 3 +3 1 Walker 0 0 -2 2
Burke Thumb Injury Vopat Leg Injury
T Hansen Healthy B Boughner Ankle Injury
Gill Abdominal Turcotte Healthy
Green Knee Injury Houlder Concussion
Yachmenev Hand
 Bert's back on blades Blue Jays boot game Bombers drop Peterson Felicien rebuilds race | Visit our Polls Archive |