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Coyotes Refuse to Lose

Mar 21, 2010 – 10:00 AM
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Bruce Ciskie

Bruce Ciskie %BloggerTitle%

Sellouts have been rare at Jobing.com Arena this season.

Wins, however, have not.

Saturday night, the two combined for an amazing night of hockey in the desert. The Phoenix Coyotes overcame a pair of two-goal deficits, then got a Radim Vrbata goal in the shootout to top the Chicago Blackhawks 5-4. It is the eighth straight win for the Coyotes, who are suddenly just one point out of the Pacific Division lead and two points behind Chicago for the top spot in the Western Conference.

The amazing resiliency of this Phoenix outfit came to the forefront again Saturday.

No deficit seems to keep this team from plugging away and playing their game. Goals by Troy Brouwer and Patrick Kane put Chicago up 2-0, but Phoenix came back. After the Coyotes tied it, Chicago got seemingly back-breaking goals from Andrew Ladd and Patrick Sharp to regain a two-goal advantage.

Lesser teams fold up the tent in that situation, but the Coyotes don't know how to do that. It's a huge part of why they're so close to the top this season. They only know one speed, and that's all-out.

Lee Stempniak, who has made a habit out of scoring big goals since his arrival at the trade deadline, got his team within one with his second goal of the game. Adrian Aucoin, a defenseman who was practically forgotten about when he left Calgary for Phoenix, tied the score eight minutes later.

In overtime, the teams traded chances, with Antti Niemi stoning a Matthew Lombardi penalty shot and Ilya Bryzgalov making a couple of amazing saves. Vrbata's goal was the only one of the shootout, and Bryzgalov shut the door on Sharp to clinch the win.

Sit back and enjoy the video from this epic game.

Filed under: Sports

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