Coyotes Team Report

INSIDE SHOTS

It looked as if the Coyotes were going to go “Oh-for-Alberta” in more ways than one.

After being shut out in Edmonton on Monday, the Coyotes were blanked for more than 50 minutes Wednesday in Calgary before Keith Yandle(notes) finally knocked the cover off the crease.

It wasn’t enough to beat the Flames, who answered with a goal by ex-Coyote Nigel Dawes(notes) to squeeze out a 2-1 win. And the offense hasn’t been enough for quite some time.

After the offense came up big at the right times during a 9-4-0 start, the Coyotes have just 25 goals in the past 12 games and have a 4-7-1 record to show for it, endangering a good start with a very disappointing November.

The return of defensemen Ed Jovanovski(notes) and Zbynek Michalek(notes) should help. Even after missing the last eight games, Jovanovski is the team’s second-leading scorer. Michalek is a key to puck movement and the Phoenix transition game that was such a big part of its early season success.

It’s become apparent that there just isn’t enough offense up front. Radim Vrbata(notes) loves to shoot the puck, but his quality chances have been limited. Shane Doan(notes) has gone ice cold, and the rest of the group can’t be counted upon for consistent scoring. Matthew Lombardi(notes), Scottie Upshall(notes) and Petr Prucha(notes) haven’t pulled their weight.

Coach Dave Tippett has juggled, shuffled and reformed his line combinations, but there just isn’t much there to create a spark right now.

The Coyotes take Thanksgiving off before meeting up with Dallas, a team they beat earlier this month, for a second time in Phoenix.

Flames 2, Coyotes 1:   Ex-Coyotes Daymond Langkow(notes) and Nigel Dawes provided just enough offense to be Phoenix, which had only one goal on a two-game trip to Alberta. Keith Yandle tied the game at 1 with a third-period, power-play goal for the Coyotes, but Dawes answered less than five minutes later to make sure the Coyotes didn’t win in Calgary for the third straight time.

NOTES, QUOTES

• The good news is D Keith Yandle has two goals in the past three games. The bad news is that in between his goal with 9:41 left in Saturday’s win over the Flyers and his game-tying goal in the third period against Calgary—a span of nearly two games—no other Phoenix player had found the net.

The only goal credited to the Coyotes in that span went to Shane Doan, who was awarded an empty-net goal via penalty in the final seconds against the Flyers. Phoenix was shut out in Edmonton on Monday and went 50-plus minutes without a goal against Calgary.

• The Coyotes’ penchant for bad turnovers bit them again on Calgary’s first goal, as Peter Muller failed to handle a puck in the neutral zone. Jim Vandermeer(notes) coughed up the puck as well before ex-Coyote Daymond Langkow scored for the Flames.

• It’s always interesting when the Flames and Coyotes get together—as much a game as a class reunion.

Seven members of the Flames—Jamie Lundmark(notes), Olli Jokinen(notes), Brandon Prust(notes), Daymond Langkow, Freddie Sjostrom, Nigel Dawes and Brian McGrattan(notes)—played for the Coyotes. Three Phoenix players spent time in Calgary—including Matthew Lombardi, who had spent his entire career with the Flames before leaving as a free agent this summer.

• D David Schlemko(notes) received a vote of confidence when he stayed in the starting lineup over Sami Lepisto(notes) when defensemen Ed Jovanovski and Zybnek Michalek returned to the lineup. And Schlemko proved worthy of the decision, setting up Keith Yandle for Phoenix’s only goal.

Quote To Note:   “Obviously, it’s starting to get a little monotonous that we can’t score goals, and it starts with me. We’re getting chances, we’re getting opportunities. I get a chance with 3 minutes left to tie it up and I don’t capitalize on it and that’s the difference.”—Coyotes captain Shane Doan.

ROSTER REPORT

Goaltenders:   Ilya Bryzgalov(notes), Jason LaBarbera(notes).

Defensemen:   Ed Jovanovski, Zbynek Michalek, James Vandermeer, Keith Yandle, David Schlemko, Adrian Aucoin(notes).

First Line:   Taylor Pyatt(notes), Robert Lang(notes), Shane Doan.

Second Line:   Petr Prucha, Martin Hanzal(notes), Radim Vrbata.

Third Line:   Scottie Upshall, Matthew Lombardi, Peter Mueller(notes).

Fourth Line:   Vernon Fiddler(notes), Daniel Winnik(notes), Peter Bissonnette.

Player Notes:  

• C Robert Lang started on the first line with Taylor Pyatt and Shane Doan. But by the third period, Lang and Pyatt found themselves on the bench watching as coach Dave Tippett juggled the lines and appeared to have singled out his two big forwards for a lack of hustle.

• RW Paul Bissonnette(notes) has 56 penalty minutes in the first 25 games, and he had yet another tilt on Monday. The first period featured no goals but a spirited battle between Bissonnette and ex-Coyote Brandon Prust. The battle lasted a good minute and forced officials to move the goal aside as each man good some good shots in.

• D Sami Lepisto was a healthy scratch for the first time this season. Not expected to be among the top six when the season began, Lepisto found himself with a job when Kurt Sauer(notes) went down in the first game, and he was playing with the second defense pair when Ed Jovanovski and Zbynek Michalek both went out with injuries. While playing more than 20 minutes a night, he was a minus player in eight of the last 11 games (minus-11 overall), so it was a good time for him to sit.

Medical Watch:  

• D Ed Jovanovski returned to the lineup for the first time since suffering a lower-body injury on Nov. 5. He was placed on injured reserve on Nov. 11. Despite missing all that time, Jovanovski still leads the Phoenix defensemen and is second on the team with 13 points (five goals, eight assists).

• D Zbynek Michalek returned to action after missing nine games with a lower body injury. The NHL’s leader in blocked shots last season led all Phoenix players in ice time at the time of his injury.

• C Martin Hanzal missed his first game of the season Monday in Edmonton with a lower body injury. But he returned to the lineup Wednesday and was reunited with wingers Petr Prucha and Radim Vrbata.

• D Kurt Sauer (upper body injury) missed his 24th game. He has not played since opening day Oct. 3, and there is no timetable for his return.