Coyotes' Bryzgalov Crowns Kings Again

Who knew that the answer to the Phoenix Coyotes' goaltending questions would be found in the shadows of Disneyland? Ilya Bryzgalov has been with the club for all of two games, but has quickly found

Thursday, November 22nd 2007, 9:42 am

By: News On 6

Who knew that the answer to the Phoenix Coyotes' goaltending questions would be found in the shadows of Disneyland? Ilya Bryzgalov has been with the club for all of two games, but has quickly found a home in the desert. At least as long as the Coyotes are playing the Los Angeles Kings.

Bryzgalov put up his second straight 28-save effort for his new team against the Kings on Wednesday night, and skated off with a 4-1 victory in Phoenix. His first outing was a 1-0 blanking in Los Angeles on Saturday just hours after he was claimed off waivers from the Anaheim Ducks.

His playing time with the Stanley Cup champions was limited behind Jean-Sebastien Giguere. So far there is no such problem with the Coyotes.

``He has been phenomenal,'' captain Shane Doan said. ``One goal in two games and that's huge. When we needed him to make a big save, he has come up big for us.''

In other NHL games on a very busy night before the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, it was Florida 5, Columbus 2; Atlanta 5, Washington 1; Philadelphia 6, Carolina 3; Montreal 4, N.Y. Islanders 1; Buffalo 4, Ottawa 2; Detroit 3, St. Louis 0; New Jersey 2, Pittsburgh 1; the New York Rangers 2, Tampa Bay 1; Vancouver 4, Minnesota 2; and Dallas 2, Anaheim 1.

Bryzgalov jumped right in with the Coyotes and has already found his comfort zone.

``I feel very comfortable with this team,'' he said. ``These guys work hard in practice and hard in a game. Anaheim is in the past, and I'm glad the Coyotes picked me up. This is a great team and with a great future.''

Mike York scored twice for Phoenix, and Doan and Niko Kapanen added goals.

Bryzgalov surrendered the Kings' only goal when Matt Moulson fired a shot in from the left circle at 15:07 of the opening period. That broke Bryzgalov's shutout streak with the Coyotes at 75 minutes, 7 seconds.

``We can't seem to get a decent shot,'' Kings forward Anze Kopitar said. ``Right now, things are really frustrating, and for some reason, we just can't score against (Bryzgalov).''

Thrashers 5, Capitals 1

At Washington, Ilya Kovalchuk scored twice to raise his NHL-best total to 19 goals and added two assists, leading Atlanta over the host Capitals, who have the NHL's fewest points and are off to their slowest start in 26 years.

The Capitals have lost five consecutive games, nine of 10, and 15 of 18. At 6-14-1 for 13 points, the team has its lowest 21-game point total since having 12 in the 1981-82 season.

Canadiens 4, Islanders 1

At Uniondale, N.Y., Steve Begin scored twice and Long Islander Christopher Higgins added a goal and assist to lift Montreal.

Tomas Plekanec also scored for Montreal, and Cristobal Huet made 43 saves _ falling 3:50 short of shutout when Mike Comrie netted the lone goal for the Islanders, who got 29 saves from Rick DiPietro.

New York lost for the first time at home in five games (4-1) and had its NHL-record streak of regulation one-goal decisions snapped at seven.

Flyers 6, Hurricanes 3

At Raleigh, N.C., Daniel Briere scored three goals in the third period for Philadelphia.

Briere added an assist during his third career hat trick and first with the Flyers, who snapped a two-game losing streak.

Mike Knuble had a goal and two assists, Kimmo Timonen also scored and Scott Hartnell added an empty-netter for Philadelphia, which won for the second time this season when trailing after one period.

Matt Cullen had a goal and two assists, Rod Brind'Amour and Eric Staal also scored and Cam Ward stopped 15 shots.

Panthers 5, Blue Jackets 2

At Columbus, Ohio, Rostislav Olesz had two goals and an assist as Florida earned its third win in four following a four-game skid.

Ruslan Salei, Bryan Allen and Jay Bouwmeester had goals for Florida, which scored three times on the power play.

Curtis Glencross and Rick Nash scored for Columbus, which has only one win in eight games.

Red Wings 3, Blues 0

At Detroit, Chris Osgood made 12 saves for his 44th career shutout, and Dan Cleary had a goal and an assist.

Henrik Zetterberg and Mikael Samuelsson also scored for Detroit, which snapped St. Louis' four-game winning streak.

Sabres 4, Senators 2

At Buffalo, N.Y., Derek Roy and Drew Stafford had a goal and assist each, and the Sabres scored three times in the first period.

Ales Kotalik and Michael Ryan also scored for the Sabres, who have won two straight after a three-game losing streak.

Daniel Alfredsson and Dany Heatley scored for the Senators (16-4), losers in two of three.

Rangers 2, Lightning 1

At Tampa, Fla., Henrik Lundqvist made 32 saves. Fedor Tyutin and Colton Orr scored for the Rangers, who have won five straight road games. New York has won six of seven overall.

Tampa Bay center Vincent Lecavalier had his team-record streak of eight multipoint games snapped.

Devils 2, Penguins 1

At Pittsburgh, Zach Parise scored two power-play goals to support New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur's 501st career victory. Parise has five points and three goals in his last two games and seven points, including three goals, in four games against Pittsburgh.

Evgeni Malkin got the Penguins back in the game 7:11 into the third, scoring his eighth goal and extending his point streak to 14 games.

Brodeur made 25 saves and kept Sidney Crosby off the score sheet, snapping the Penguins' captain's point streak at a career-best 19 games.

Vancouver 4, Minnesota 2

Markus Naslund scored three goals for the visiting Canucks.

Ryan Kesler also scored for Vancouver, 6-0-2 in their last eight games. The Canucks have gone 9-0-2 against Northwest Division opponents this season.

Marian Gaborik scored twice for the Wild, who lost for the first time in four home games.

Stars 2, Ducks 1

At Dallas, Mike Modano notched his 513th career goal during a third-period power play to extend his record for U.S.-born NHL players, and Niklas Hagman scored 41 seconds later on the same advantage as the host Stars ended Anaheim's four-game winning streak.

The Stars honored Modano in pregame ceremonies for surpassing Phil Housley's points record of 1,232 for U.S.-born players. The tying goal against the Ducks stretched Modano's career points total to 1,239.

Mike Smith made 17 saves in his third straight start for the Stars, 3-0-1 since last week's front-office shake-up by owner Tom Hicks.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere stopped 22 shots, and Corey Perry scored his fourth goal in six games for the Ducks, 0-3 against the Stars this season.