Phoenix extends series winning streak against Calgary
--The Coyotes will play the Flames three more times before the end of the season -- they play four times between Thursday and March 15 -- which is good news for Phoenix. The Coyotes have now beat the Flames five straight times and seven of the last eight meetings dating back to the 2009-10 season.
That makes sense. Phoenix has a good line in Ray Whitney, Martin Hanzal and Radim Vrbata that matches up well with Calgary's trio of Jarome Iginla, Olli Jokinen and Alex Tanguay -- the top three scorers on a team that scrounges for goals. And the Coyotes have had good success against Miikka Kiprusoff, a goalie that gives many top teams fits.
--Tapes of Thursday's game won't be sent to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Both teams played a ragged, uneven style and pretty passes were at a minimum. But Phoenix coach Dave Tippett wasn't surprised.
"It was a sloppy game, there were pucks bouncing all over the place," Tippett said. "That's what it's going to be like (down the stretch). You've got to find ways to get points. We'll take the points, stick those in the bank and move on."
It wasn't the kind of game the Coyotes showed in wins over San Jose, Detroit and Dallas. Their forecheck was all but invisible and their ability to put passes together suffered from poor neutral-zone play. But some of the credit has to go to Calgary, another desperate team scrounging for all the points it can get.
"You recognize how good Calgary is playing and how they're jumping into the play and they're forcing the issue," Phoenix captain Shane Doan said. "You look at their back end and the way that (TJ) Brodie and (Jay) Bouwmeester and (Mark) Giordano jump into the play; they're all guys that you have to be aware of and be on your toes when they're on the ice."
--It wasn't Keith Yandle's best night. The Coyotes All-Star was goaded into penalties twice in the third period. He was in the box for dancing with Calgary defenseman Cory Sarich when Olli Jokinen tied the game for the Flames. A few minutes later, he got into another scrum with Mikael Backlund and earned a double minor with a late punch to Backlund's face while they were being held by the linesmen.
"I didn't want to really fight him. I just wanted to take him out of the game, frustrate him" Backlund said. "He's their best defenseman, the best player on their team. I just tried to hold him down and then he gave me an (expletive) cheap shot."
QUOTE TO NOTE
"We're not looking to just crawl. We're trying to run with this." -- Phoenix captain Shane Doan, on the four-game winning streak that has lifted the Coyotes back into a Western Conference playoff spot.
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