Phoenix Coyotes hold on for home win over Calgary Flames: By The Numbers
Mar 16, 2014, 5:25 AM | Updated: 9:21 pm
Coming off a 2-1 loss Thursday in Boston, the Phoenix Coyotes came into Jobing.com Arena looking to keep their playoff hopes viable.
The Coyotes came out firing Saturday against the Calgary Flames, scoring the first two goals of the game before 10 minutes had even elapsed.
The second period belonged to Calgary, as two power play goals brought the game to a tie before the middle frame finished.
Phoenix responded with a power play goal of its own — a Shane Doan deflection of a Keith Yandle slapshot — about nine minutes into the third period, and the ‘Yotes held on for a 3-2 win in Glendale. Calgary dropped to 27-34-7 (sixth in the Pacific Division) with the loss, while the Coyotes continued their strong run of late, improving to 32-25-11.
Here’s a look at Saturday’s game by the numbers:
1
Defenseman Chris Summers poked one in from the left side for the first goal of the game, just over four minutes into the contest. If you’re not used to hearing his name much, it’s because Summers has appeared in only 33 games over four years for the Coyotes, and the wrist shot turned into the 26-year-old defender’s first goal of his career.
5
The win kept some positive momentum going for the Coyotes, marking their fifth in the last seven games since coming out of the Olympic break with three straight losses.
8
The win gave Phoenix a tie with the Dallas Stars — who lost to Calgary on Friday — for the eighth-most points (75) in the Western Conference. Dallas owns the tiebreaker and would claim the final Wild Card spot if the season ended Saturday.
The Coyotes went 0-for-5 on power plays in Thursday’s loss to the Bruins, and if it weren’t for Doan’s deflection into the net in the third period Saturday, Phoenix might have gone scoreless in eight opportunities against the Flames.
29
Goaltender Mike Smith stopped 29 shots in 31 attempts by the Flames — a .935 save percentage. Calgary’s only two goals came on four power play opportunities. Joni Ortio of the Flames saved all but three of the 26 shots that came his way — an .885 percentage. After going into the second intermission with a tie, the Coyotes only allowed five shots on Smith in the final period.
40
Yandle was the only Coyote to have a multi-point performance Saturday, picking up an assist in the first and third periods, giving him a team-high 40 on the season. The defenseman now leads the team in overall points with 47.
350
Doan’s goal marked the 350th of his 18-year career. He now boasts 19 goals on the season to go with 20 assists. He only trails former Winnipeg Jets center Dale Hawerchuk for the most goals (379) in franchise history.