Phoenix Coyotes Grind Out 3-1 Win Over Pittsburgh Penguins

Feb 1, 2014; Glendale, AZ, USA; Phoenix Coyotes goalie

(41) is congratulated by teammates defensemen

(23) and forward David Moss (18) after defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins at Jobing.com Arena. The Coyotes won 3-1. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports

GLENDALE — The Jekyll and Hyde season continues for the Phoenix Coyotes. After struggling against the NHL’s worst Buffalo Sabres, it only makes sense that they’d come out and control the entire game, winning 3-1 against one of the NHL’s best in the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Mike Ribeiro got the Coyotes (26-19-10) on the board with his 14th goal of the season at 12:42 of the first period, just seconds after getting off of the power play. David Schlemko and Antoine Vernette got the assists as the Coyotes outshot the Penguins 12-6 in the period. It was a relatively quick and clean period, with no penalties called on the Coyotes.

The Coyotes extended the lead to 2-0 on a goal by Zbynek Michalek, his first of the season, at 10:50 of the second period. Assists went to Ribeiro and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. It was only a matter of time before the Penguins (38-15-2) got on the board, and at 15:51 of the period, Evgeni Malkin scored his 16th of the season, assisted by James Neal and Jussi Jokinen. The Penguins got 13 shots on net in the period to the Coyotes 10. Each team had a power play opportunity, but both were killed off.

Things started getting heated in the third period, but not before Radim Vrbata scored his 13th of the season, at 4:13 of the period, from Martin Hanzal. Just a few minutes later, the Penguins got tired of being pushed around and decided to push back. After having just three penalties called in the first two periods, seven separate penalties were whistled in the third. Surprisingly, none of them ended in goals. The teams combined to go 0-for-6 on the power play.

At the end of the day, the Coyotes played terrific defense, got solid goaltending and scored three even strength goals. They’ll be impossible to beat if they can find a way to play like that every night.

Notes

• The Coyotes outhit the Penguins 26-18.
• There were a combined 44 shots blocked in the game, 24 by the Coyotes and 20 by the Penguins.
• The Coyotes have now killed 16 of their opponent’s last 17 power plays.

Pack Leader

Mike Smith had to deal with one of the league’s most prolific offenses and he stood tall in net, saving 23-of-24 shots, for a .958 save percentage. Credit the Coyotes defense as well, for keeping the Penguins at bay during their two power plays. They managed just three shots on goal during that time.

Runt of the Litter

We have to nitpick a bit in going after Keith Yandle tonight, but he’s our runt. He managed just two shots on goal, with three attempts blocked and two complete misses. Yandle recorded no points and was even on the night.

Coming Up

The Coyotes will host the Dallas Stars on Tuesday, February 4th from Jobing.com arena in Glendale, Arizona.