February 2, 2013; Glendale, AZ, USA; Phoenix Coyotes right wing Nick Johnson (32) celebrates with Andy Miele (21) and Lauri Korpikoski (28) after scoring a second period goal against the Dallas Stars at Jobing.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

Stars can’t solve Mike Smith in 2-0 loss to the Coyotes

Back to back games for the Dallas Stars have not been a pretty picture for them. They were trying to break that as they faced the Phoenix Coyotes, the same team they defeated last night 4-3 in the shootout. The back to back woes continued tonight as the Phoenix Coyotes shutout the Dallas Stars, 2-0. Their offense has been nonexistent during the road trip and it showed during the game.

There was no scoring in the first period as the Stars out skated the Coyotes and they were the better team and had more energy in the back to back game with the Coyotes. They had the better quality chances as Jamie Benn had two beautiful scoring chances but Mike Smith stoned him with the blocker and glove. It was a different story in the second period as the Stars had only one shot on goal and went into penalty trouble. Then the scoring started off as the Coyotes took a 1-0 lead as Nick Johnson who wrist shot in the slot that went past Bachman’s glove from a nice pass by Lauri Korpikoski at the 11:57 mark.

At the beginning of the third period, the Stars had a chance to tie the game up as Smith who didn’t have his stick, stoned Jaromir Jagr with the blocker side. While Michael Ryder was in the box for boarding, Mikael Boedker, on the power play, got a juicy rebound off a point shot and stuff the rebound past Bachman’s blocker side at the 2:47 mark in the third period to make it 2-0. Next game is Monday night as they face the Colorado Avalanche at 8pm as they will try to find their offense and not take any more penalties.

Game Notes

Goal Scorers

DAL: none

PHO: N. Johnson (11:57 – 2nd), M. Boedker (PPG, 02:47 – 3rd)

Goalies

DAL: Richard Bachman (stopped 32 out of the 34 shots he faced)

PHO: Mike Smith (stopped 17 out of the 17 shots he faced)

Here’s the final score from the Coyotes and Stars:

Final	1	2	3	T
	0	1	1	2
	0	0	0	0

Here were the shots on goals between the Stars and Stars:

Teams	1st	2nd	3rd	Total
	11	12	11	34
	6	3	8	17

Starting Line Up

Forwards:

Brenden Morrow-Jamie Benn-Jaromir Jagr

Loui Eriksson-Cody Eakin-Michael Ryder

Eric Nystrom-Vernon Fiddler-Tomas Vincour

Reilly Smith- Antoine Roussel-Ryan Garbutt

Defense:

Brenden Dillon-Stephane Robidas

Aaron Rome-Trevor Daley

Alex Goligoski-Jamie Oleksiak

Goaltenders

Richard Bachman (starter)

Kari Lehtonen (backup)

Scratches: Jordie Benn, Philip Larsen and Tom Wandell

Injuries: Ray Whitney (foot), Derek Roy (groin), and Cristopher Nilstorp (groin)

Three Stars:

Star	Team	Pos/Name	Stats
		Mike Smith	Saves: 17, Save Pct: 1.000
		Nick Johnson	Goals: 1, Assist: 0, +1
		Derek Morris	Goal: 0, Assist: 1, 0

Speaking of last nights game, head coach Glen Gulutzan had this to say: ‘I thought the win itself was best for our psyche, and it gives us something to try to build off of, for sure, this game gets mental. The win helps for our belief, but as our belief increases, our game has got to get tidied up now’.

After playing through a lower body injury, Ray Whitney has finally been placed on IR. This means Reilly Smith has been

Jan 19, 2013; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Stars defenseman Brenden Dillon (4) checks Phoenix Coyotes left wing David Moss (18) during the first period at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

called up from the Texas Stars for tonight’s encounter at the jobing.com arena. Derek Roy also remains out for Dallas, but he could return to action as early as Monday.

With Christian Nilstorp injured, it looks as if Richard Bachman will get his first start of the season in net for the Stars.

It seems as if the Coyotes will go into the game with a similar line-up to last night, but we could see the experience of Rostislav Klesa and/or Steve Sullivan join the squad.

After returning from injury yesterday, Mike Smith will start again in goal for Phoenix.

Martin Hanzal has been a key player for the Coyotes against the Stars this season. He has been a massive threat in front of goal as well as a physical presence on the ice. It is crucial that the Stars deal with him better tonight, or we could see a tough game on the road.

With Phoenix starting to slip away in the Pacific Division, it is a huge game for them tonight. The Stars will be looking to record back-to-back victories for the first time this season. Puck drop is at 7pm.

Here are some highlights from the last night’s game between the Stars and Coyotes:

Statistical Matchup

Category
Result of Game	won 4-3 in the shootout against the Phoenix Coyotes	Lost 4-3 in the shootout against the Dallas Stars
Game Played	8	8
Record	3-4-1	2-4-2
Points	7	6
Home	2-1-1	2-2-1
Away	1-3-0	0-2-1
Goals/game	2.00	3.12
Goals against/game	2.62	3.12
Shots/game	25.4	33.2
Shots against/game	34.1	26.9
Power play	14.8%	23.5%
Penalty kill	84.2%	80.6%
Team Leaders	Stars	Coyotes:
Goals	Ryder: 4	Sullivan: 4
Assists:	Eakin: 5	Vrbata: 6
Points	Whitney: 6	Vrbata: 9
Goaltenders	Lehtonen:  3-2-1, 2.68, .924 Nilstorp:  0-2-0, 2.70, .918 Bachman: 0-0-0, 0.00, 1.000	Smith: 0-2-0, 4.62, .836 Labarbera:  1-2-0, 3.25, .897 Johnson: 1-0-1, 0.98, .952