Thursday, Nov. 05, 2009

Recap: Phoenix vs. Chicago

Martin Hanzal registered a goal and an assist to help the Phoenix Coyotes down the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-1, at Jobing.com Arena.

Peter Mueller and Scottie Upshall also scored for the Coyotes, who snapped a two-game skid and won for the fourth time in their last six tries. Ilya Bryzgalov made 31 saves in the win.

"I'm still concerned about the penalties we're taking, but I liked our compete level right down to the final buzzer," said Phoenix head coach Dave Tippett.

Kris Versteeg had a short-handed goal for the Blackhawks, who were playing for the first time in six days. Cristobal Huet stopped 20-of-23 shots in defeat.

"We had a lot of chances to take control of the game and it was just unfortunate tonight," Versteeg said.

The Coyotes grabbed an early lead on a tally by Hanzal, who took a feed from Ed Jovanovski, dashed into the attacking zone, stick-handled around a Chicago defender and ripped a wrist shot between the legs of Huet at 2:54 of the first period.

Mueller backhanded the rebound of a Shane Doan offering for his first goal of the season with 8:05 to play in the opening frame. The former first-round pick potted 22 goals two years ago as a rookie.

Phoenix led 3-0 when Upshall cradled a pass from David Schlemko and fired a wrister labeled for the top-right corner of the net at 10:38 of the middle stanza.

Versteeg's marker put the visitors on the board with 6:04 remaining in the second.

Chicago appeared to close to within a goal near the midway point of the third, but Colin Fraser was ruled to have used a kicking motion to direct the puck past Bryzgalov.

Game Notes