Coyotes close out trip on winning note

Behind some great goaltending behind Jason LaBarbera, the Coyotes got a much needed 1-0 road victory over the Dallas Stars to close out their six-game road trip.  Phoenix closed out the trip with only two wins and a total of five points, but they got a win against a quality opponent on Sunday night.

Phoenix’s lone goal came from Kyle Turris midway through the second period.  The goal for Turris was his fifth of the season and his first goal since Nov. 10.  It appeared that the Coyotes had another goal later in the period as the puck went off Martin Hanzal’s stick on a Shane Doan shot, but it was ruled that Hanzal’s goal was no good because his stick was above the goal post.

LaBarbera was between the pipes once again as Ilya Bryzgalov continues to battle an upper body injury.  LaBarbera was brilliant in his absence.  He had 30 saves on the night and stopped a number of shots point blank.  Some of those point blank shots came down the stretch in the final few minutes of the game.  For a guy that struggled throughout most of the trip, this game has to do wonders for his confidence.  If Bryz continues to not be able to go, LaBarbera is going to continue getting the majority of the starts.

Phoenix also did a great job stopping the Stars monster line of Brad Richards, Loui Eriksson and James Neal.  The three combined for a total of only seven shots on the night.  Whenever you stop those three, you have a real good shot at beating Dallas.

The Coyotes had back home for a brief two-game homestand against the Ducks and Kings.  The puck will drop at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night against Anaheim and then on Wednesday night at the same time against Los Angeles.