…watching the Coyotes win and move up in the standings! Woohoo! Sorry, I’ve been slightly obsessed with the Telephone video from Lady Gaga lately.
Yah, thanks to us winning and the Sharks losing to Edmonton (5 – 1) we are now in first in the Pacific Conference. Oh yah, and um second in the west (tied at 97 points with Chicago). Hot damn, did you ever see this happening?? We are only one point ahead of San Jose so every game/point is vital. Tuesday we face Chicago and to me this is a must win. We didn’t battle so hard all season to start losing at this point and to lose our position in the standings. If we are going to win, I say lets just go all the way!
We are at nine wins in a row. I can no longer keep track of all the records and stuff we are breaking this season. Apparently this has been one of our best years in franchise history based on all the records that we are surpassing. I give the credit to the genius of Don Maloney and the coaching of Dave Tippett. Jack Adams anyone?
I don’t even know where to start with this game. It was crazy! I was going crazy! I had my patio door open and I am hoping none of my neighbors where in their yards or had windows open. By the third period I was screaming at the tv. By OT, I was standing, yelling and gripping the top of my monitor. After the shootout, I was standing, yelling and jumping up and down. Anyone that heard that was probably wondering what the hell was going on in here.
Some random facts:
- Vandermeer was in for Winnik. Wait, Winnik? Yes, Vandermeer played forward today. Apparently Winnik needed a rest. And apparently Vandy played a little forward in Calgary. Interesting no?
- Sami got to play! And he played a great game. Way to go Sami! His partner was Aucoin tonight.
- LaBarbera was in net.
- Lines: Pyatt/Lombo/Doan, the Czechs, Wolski/Fiddy/Stemps and Vandy/Noke/Korps
The first was pretty basic. There was a Coyotes PP. It sucked, the Stars had a fantastic breakaway opportunity but LaBarbera stopped it. But then wait…. what’s this? Pru scores right at the buzzer? The play is under review. But the puck made it across the blue line right at the buzzer. That’s my Prucha! We end the first up 1-0.
Yandle gets a chop to the neck and Neal goes to the box to start off the second. Thanks to Neal’s stupidity Vrby gets a PP goal! YAY Coyotes up 2-0. Unfortunately the Stars get a goal but Fiddy attempts to answer right away but can’t get it past Turco. For a little while, the Stars turn up the pressure and make LaBarbera look a little shakey but we make it through. Z takes the first Coyotes penalty of the game at the end of the second. Why does it have to be Z? He is one of our best PKers!
And this is where I started the screaming. Open the third to the stars shooting on Labarbera. Somehow the puck does not go in (thank god) but Adrian does and also earns a penalty. I lost track of the puck and was so afraid it was going to go behind Jason so I am screaming “blow the whistle! oh my god! holy crap! blow the whistle!” After this we go to a 5 on 3 with Z and Adrian in the box. Luckily we kill it off.
Then Neal gets a penalty. Karma eh Neal?
But then Richards fires one from the point and in the net it goes. Now it’s a 2-2 hockey game and I am freaking out. There are plenty for chances for both sides and lots of near misses. There were times when I swear we were going to get a goal but it just wasn’t meant to be. With about 5 seconds left it looked like Dallas was going to get a goal but nope. More OT.
Lombo and Doan had probably the best chance to score in OT. They had a 2 on 1 but it just seemed Lombo waited too long to shoot and allowed the Dallas defense to get in there and stop his shot. I also really liked all the shots we were taking from the blue line. It was giving us ton of chances on rebounds and keeping the puck in their zone.
No score in OT means we get another shootout.
- Richards: Strange bounce off of LaBarbera’s glove leads to the puck going behind Jason and into the net.
- Wolski: Misses. As I said on twitter, I love you but no more shootouts for you.
- Eriksson: stopped by LaBarbera’s right pad. He kept trying to bang it in. Sorry hun but you don’t get rebounds in the shootout..
- Korps: Missed.
- Ribero: Missed.
- Vrby: SCORES!!!!!!!
- Ott: Great glove save by Jason
- Adrian “The Closer” Aucoin: gets it with his signature move! I debated calling him the closer in my earlier blog post but decided against it. Then I heard them say it on the broadcast. Can the Coyotes read my rough drafts??
Randomness:
- Wolski had a fantastic game. He is really good with the puck. He had some great passes to Sami, Doan and Stemps that almost lead to goals (they would have been goals had Turco not been the good Turco)
- Sami was doing a fantastic job of manning the blue line. He also was jumping into play when it was appropriate. I think his confidence is on the ups.
- What the hell does Turco have against Pru? Earlier this season he head butts him and tonight he takes him out with his blocker. There should have been a penalty call but Turco got away with that one. Someone needs to take Turco out for the crap he pulls on Pru.
- The Coyotes have won 9 in a row.
- Aucoin had his 5th game winning SO goal.
- Tippett had the biggest grin when he was leaving the ice after the game. It was one of the best moments in the game. He may even let the boys party tonight. 😛
Quote of the Game:
“I just go there and shoot it,” Aucoin said. “I dont want to deke or lose the puck.”
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