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!

February 09, 2013; San Jose, CA, USA; Phoenix Coyotes right winger Radim Vrbata (17) scores during the overtime shootout against the San Jose Sharks goalie Antti Niemi (31) at HP Pavilion. Phoenix won 1-0 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Bob Stanton-USA TODAY Sports

San Jose is the team who jumped out and looked unbeatable. That is until Phoenix handled them 50 minutes and a 3 – 1 lead only to see the SHarks wake up to 4 goals in the final 9 minutes to win the game. After being unbeaten the Sharks had a 3 – 3 opening period versus the Blackhawks who haven’t worried about anyone. That game ended 5 – 3 in favor of Chicago and led to 6 straight losses for San Jose. The road doesn’t look any better with the Sharks on the road in Dallas, then St. Louis, and Chicago twice. Which can spell a terrible 10 game stretch for them. Even if they manage 2 – 2 in their brutal stretch this week that’s is 2 – 8 in their last 10 games. OUCH! Talk about your early speed faders.

Meantime Phoenix is paving along. Chicago handled them twice in Phoenix with one on a back to back night early. But Phoenix has managed a few shutouts and tight wins on the road to stay in the conversation. They responded nicely from their drubbing at home for a win at San Jose and at Colorado. This all while recovering from injuries and suspension. Not to mention the rust early on that seemed to plague the defense the most. Tippett has his boys playing Pack mentality defense again. A key stretch for the Coyotes will be facing the Pacific leading Ducks on March 2nd, 4th, and 6th in a row with the first two at home. 4 or 5 points in that stretch could be huge moving toward the finish line. But there is still much work to do in February. With good defense, Mike Smith, and timely scoring the Coyotes should move into the top 5 in the West.

Feb 1, 2013; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Stars left wing Loui Eriksson (21) screens Phoenix Coyotes goalie Mike Smith (41) as defenseman Zbynek Michalek (4) defends during the game at the American Airlines Center. The Stars defeat the Coyotes in the overtime shootout 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Lastly the Dallas Stars were doing really nothing except a pair of close wins over Phoenix. Then they were shutout 2-0 in Arizona before pulling off a nice little 4 game win streak including a victory over division leading Anaheim. This to stay relevant and hold on to their playoff hopes. Jamie Benn looks to have come into form and the Stars have their moments. It just seems they are old and incapable of staying healthy. I can’t see them challenging for the division this season.

So off we head into part 2 of this 4 part season where contenders and pretenders start to take form. At the halfway point we will revisit the Pacific and break down their chances heading into the 3rd and moving part of the season. Look for Anaheim to cool a little, San Jose to rebound some, Coyotes to stay around middle of the pack and the Stars and Kings dwindling down the ladder even further.