Mar 9, 2013; Glendale, AZ, USA; Members of the Phoenix Coyotes celebrate after beating the Dallas Stars 2-1 at Jobing.com Arena. Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

20 was the magic number as Smitty saved 20 and Lehtinen only 19.  It seemed like many more shots including 2 key 5 on 3 power plays for Dallas.

Not only was Mike Smith poised his defense seemed to scrap, bang, check, hustle, poke, dig, block, and just about anything it took to thwart and agitate Dallas Saturday night.

Mid first period the dead lock was broken with a pretty goal set up by a nice keep in by Sullivan then a pass back to Ollie the Trolley who made a spin move and back hand centered to Doan who put it home. Shane Doan became the all-time leading goal scorer in Coyotes history.

Later the stars of the show, the defense came in with their fore check that produced a loose puck squirting out to Gordon who pass it over to a wide open Klinhammer who netted his first career NHL goal. It’s fun to see the infusion of young talent who seem to have so much zip in their skates. Sure you get the occasional penalty or rookie type mistake, but it makes it a lot more interesting.

Phoenix seemed to have most of the zip and momentum until a 5 on 3 created by a delay of game penalty that led to the Jagr goal. 2 – 1 after 2 periods of play.

After another 5 on 3 the Desert Dawgs survived a game Texas twinkler squad with a gutty 3rd period effort led by guys like the Big Z, Zbynek Michalek blocked a half dozen shots. Rob Kilnkhammer was the first star and was out there to the very end making many besides him smile ear to ear.

This was hockey the hard way as ‘Yotes fans are growing accustom to.  Dirty sticks and not much breathing room.

What’s awesome is raising the sticks by the players to their fans. I LOVE seeing a full house to root on our Coyotes….Everybody HOWL!

Feb 1, 2013; Dallas, TX, USA; Phoenix Coyotes center Martin HanzalJerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The return of Mike Smith and a win would do some good in moving forward. The front office and players stand united with the same message: “We have a job to do…If we win games someone will step up….We don’t let that affect what we’re out here to do, win.”

Martin Hanzal tried to single handedly bring the Coyotes back as he scored 2 goals early on. Dillion ans Roussel got their first ever goals for Dallas who jumped from the drop of the puck and exposed a rusty Mike Smith who seemed to settle down after a slow start. Radim Vrbata cut the 2 – 0 lead in half with a deflection in the center in which it seemed Hanzal or Ekman Larsson would get the goal. Replays show his redirection. Hanzal returned from injury nicely 45 seconds into the 2nd period to know the score at 2-2 with a nice play on the side of the net. After Hanzal and Michale Ryder traded goals we were headed to overtime. In the extra session both teams had chances but we were headed to a shootout that some still are not in favor of.

My idea is a 5 on 5 for 5 mins then 4 on 4 after that. Maybe 3 on 3. Possibly 2 on 2. Then shootout. All 5 mins ea. Better than just a quick ending for a point. After all this is suppose to be a team game.

The Coyotes are forced to look at the bright side, a point on the road vs. a division opponent. A win Saturday could got a long way of finding positives to move forward with.

Puck drops at 6pm Jobing.com and all fans are encouraged to show up and let our Coyotes, Canada, prospective owners know….We are here to STAY!