Depth, time off pay dividends for Coyotes

The Phoenix Coyotes made a statement Saturday night on home ice
against
the Pacific Division leading San Jose Sharks — playing like a rejuvenated
team still hungry for a playoff berth.

Three days of intensive practice and workouts paid dividends for the
Coyotes, who bested their division rivals, 5-3, in front of a crowd of
12,979 at Jobing.com Arena.

Coyotes’ head coach Dave Tippett was impressed by the adjustments his
team made coming off Tuesday night’s 4-1 loss to Anaheim.

“I thought we competed hard,” Tippett said. “I thought we did some
things
better than the other night. Ultimately, we got a couple good bounces
that
went our way and we were able to use that as a confidence builder and
momentum to find a way to get a win.”

After battling and scrapping with the Sharks through a scoreless first
period of play, the Coyotes found themselves in a 1-0 hole after All-Star
Logan Couture lit the lamp for the 22nd time this season.

But to the Coyotes credit, they showed impressive and immediate
resiliency
when Raffi Torres tied the game less than a minute later – highlighting
the
scoring depth in Saturday’s win for the Coyotes.

“We’ve been talking about that all year,” Tippett said. “We’ve got to score
by committees.”

And score they did. In fact, an onslaught of goals followed — totaling
five
in the second period alone for both teams combined — culminating in
Martin Hanzal’s
sixth of the season, which gave the Coyotes a 3-2 lead entering the third
period.

The Coyotes, who have struggled all season long putting together a solid
second period of hockey, broke that trend Saturday — thanks in large
part
to the contributions they received from all of their lines.

Most impressive was the trio of Gordon-Doan-Korpikoski, who exhibited
great chemistry and a strong third period effort. Korpikoski in particular
was outstanding — scoring twice, including the first tally of the 3rd
period
that gave the Coyotes a 4-2 lead, but leaving him one shy of his first
career hat trick.

Korpikoski acknowledged how crucial the offensive contributions were
for
many different players to the Coyotes success.

“It’s good to get goals from different guys again and it was a solid effort
throughout the lineup,” Korpikoski said.

San Jose stormed back in the final seconds of play when Patrick Marleau
scored his 20th of the season. But it was too little, too late for the Sharks
when Radim Vrbata sealed the win for the Coyotes with an empty netter
–
his team-leading 24th goal of the year.

Korpikoski also expressed the importance of what beating a team of San
Jose’s caliber does for the Coyotes’ morale.

“Well, you know, confidence is a big thing this time of year,” Korpikoski
said. “I think we had a really good three days (of practice) and (Tippett)
really made sure our heads and minds were back in it and at that
competing level and we were doing the little things right.”

If the Coyotes can continue to see a collective effort up and down the
lineup, they should find themselves right back in the thick of the playoff
hunt.

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