In a complete team effort the Phoenix Coyotes (25-21-8) extended their win streak to three games with a 4-1 win Tuesday night against the Dallas Stars (27-23-2) at American Airlines Center.
The Coyotes have been clicking lately and Tuesday nights win was evidence of that. Ten different Coyotes got on the scoresheet against the Stars.
More: Post game analysis
Phoenix Coyotes All-Star defenseman Keith Yandle opened up the scoring less than five minutes into the first period after ripping a long shot from the point that deflected off a Dallas defenseman and through the five-hole of Kari Lehtonen. The goal was Yandle's seventh of the year.
"We wanted to push back. We knew that they were going to try to come at us hard because of the back-to-back and we wanted to push back," Tippett said. "Coming out of the first period up 1-0, that was a good push back."
It looked like momentum would swing in favor of the Stars early in the second period after Michael Ryder put in his 19th of the season. Unfortunately for the Stars, it would be the only time they would be able to get the puck past Mike Smith.
Smith would stop 28 shots Tuesday in his 21st win of the season. Smith is beginning to look like the goalie that Coyote fans saw early in the season and it looks like the All-Star break may have benefited him the most. A healthy and confident Smith will be able to keep the Coyotes in every game they play.
Lehtonen would stop 20 shots for Dallas in the loss.
It is rare to see the Coyotes get a big win without Radim Vrbata contributing, so it was only a matter of time before the Czech sniper found a way to get his number inked on the scoresheet. At 14:30 of the second period Vrbata would put in his 25th of the season and league-leading 18th goal on the road. Rostislav Klesla would get his 100th assist of his career on the goal.
When asked about the Coyotes recent success Vrbata said, "we had a couple days of practice that helped us a lot. Now we pay more attention to the details and we have everybody contributing. That's the key to our group, I think."
The Coyotes would go into the second intermission with a 2-1 lead and never look back.
Raffi Torres and his blue-collar play has proven to be a great addition to the Coyotes lineup this season and the scrappy forward got his 9th goal of the season at 5:41 of the third period to make it 3-1.
Derek Morris has come under fire this year for his less than stellar play, but he has to be feeling good Tuesday after scoring his first goal of the season. Even though it was a late insurance goal that made the score 4-1, finding the back of the net has to feel good for the veteran who had not scored since last season against the Columbus Blue Jackets on March 24th.
The Coyotes three game streak has propelled them up the standings and they now sit in 9th place. They are tied with the Minnesota Wild with 58 points, but since they have played one more game than the Wild they currently sit in the 9th spot.
The Coyotes sit four points behind the Los Angeles Kings, but they will see the Kings two times in the next two weeks, giving them an opportunity to gain four valuable points against their Pacific Division rival.
Thursday the 'Yotes will look to extend their win streak to four games against another team looking to gain a foothold in the Western Conference standings, the Calgary Flames. The puck drops at 7 p.m. at Jobing.com Arena.