Vrbata’s power play goal gives Coyotes win in OT

Radim Vrbata scored on the power play just little over a minute into the overtime session to give the Coyotes another 3-2 win over the Stars in Dallas. The win gave Phoenix their third consecutive win and gave Dallas their fourth straight loss, their longest losing streak of the season so far.

The Stars would start off fast in the first few minutes and got a goal from Steve Ott at the 11-minute mark of the first period. The goal for Ott was his 10th on the season and his first in well over a month. The Coyotes would soon clamp down defensively and Michal Rozsival would grab his first goal as a Coyote to tie things up between the two teams to close out the first 20 minutes.

Things between Dallas and Phoenix were pretty even during the second period with a controversial goal was the only goal scored during the period. When Brad Richards shot the puck on Ilya Bryzgalov, it didn’t appear that the puck had clearly passed the goal line, but one of the far side officials had ruled it a goal. It then went up to the booth for a review where they said the goal stood as called on the ice. You couldn’t blame the booth because it appeared on the replay that the call was too close to overturn, but you have to put some blame on the referee for making a call so defiantly.

Phoenix would shake off the questionable call by tying things up early in the third period. Mikkel Boedker in only his 10th game played of the season, would tie it up for his first goal of the 2010/2011 campaign. The Coyotes continued to put pressure on Kari Lehtonen throughout the rest of the period, but the Dallas goaltender came up with some big saves to keep things tied at two a piece despite being outshot 10-4 in the period.

A big tripping call on Jamie Langenbrunner 19 seconds before the end of regulation time ended up being the difference in the game. Dallas was able to off Phoenix in the final few seconds of regulation and the first minute of overtime, but they were unable to hold off Vrbata from giving his team another win in Dallas.

The defending champion Chicago Blackhawks will be next up for the Coyotes on Saturday night. The puck will drop at 6 p.m. It is always a great atmosphere whenever the Hawks are in town and it will be no different on Saturday.