Ouch, ouch, ouch. Now that hurt.
After coming back from two goals with under eight minutes remaining in the game, the Coyotes gave up a power play goal to Jamie Benn with only 4.6 seconds remaining to give Dallas a 3-2 victory. The power play came after a very questionable hooking call on Radim Vrbata that was drawn by Mike Ribeiro. The goal and the ensuing goal resulted in game misconducts from both Derek Morris and Keith Yandle with little time left on the clock.
The game appeared to be all but over for the Coyotes just a few minutes earlier. Dallas held a 2-0 lead on goals from Tom Wandell late in the first period and Jamie Langenbrunner, who had the puck hit off his skate to get in the net past Ilya Bryzgalov past the halfway point in the third period.
Phoenix wouldn’t quit however in the remaining minutes of the period. Rostislav Klesla, who was extremely impressive on both sides of the ice in his Coyotes debut, scored on a very beautiful feed from Kyle Turris to draw the Dogs within a goal. Then with just 38 seconds remaining and Bryzgalov on the bench to get the extra man, Ray Whitney would tie things up for his 12th goal of the season. Whitney’s netter came on a strange feed from Shane Doan and it appeared that the puck hit off a Stars player before it got past Kari Lehtonen.
Even though the Coyotes missed a golden chance to get a point after their great effort in the final minutes, there are some positives to take away from this game. Klesla was extremely impressive in his debut. His big body and his ability to block shots are invaluable. The Phoenix power play unit was also much improved as well. Dallas was able to convert on only one of five man advantage chances and that one goal came with under five seconds in the game under extremely questionable circumstances.
The Yotes will have a night off tomorrow before traveling to Los Angeles to face a Kings team that is right behind Phoenix in the standings. The puck will drop at 8:30.