Coyotes Snooze Through First Half - Salvage Single Point Against Avs

Super fast recap on this one because I was at the game and not taking clear notes or anything. The Phoenix Coyotes played two separate games tonight...for the first 37 or so minutes, they deserved to lose, getting outshot by the Colorado Avalanche 17-14 while trailing 2-0. Then, the team woke up after a great individual effort by Lee Stempniak brought them within a goal. For the remainder of regulation and OT, the Coyotes out-shot Colorado 28-3. Unfortunately, for the second time this season, the Coyotes would hold Colorado to a single shot in a period, only to see that shot beat Ilya Bryzgalov.

In truth, that game tying goal was a real tough one for Bryz as Colorado came in on a Rick Nash-type rush and the puck simply ended up on Ryan O'Reilly's stick and he made a great shot top shelf to beat Bryz.

Ray Whitney and Shane Doan scored in the third period to give the Coyotes the 3-2 lead, but the Coyotes were unable to convert a few late power play opportunities to win this game before the shootout.

In the shootout, Mr. Reliable, Radim Vrbata had the puck jump off his stick (or possibly poke-checked by Peter Budaj) which was a recurring theme for him all night. O'Reilly scored five-hole for the Avs and that was all it took.

The Coyotes probably should have taken 2 points from an Avs team that is out of the playoffs and had played the night before. But after sleep walking through that first half, I'll take the one point. With the point, the Coyotes current playoff odds sit at 98.9% - so it's not guaranteed, but it's looking good. Big three games remaining in the season as the Coyotes likely need to win all 3 to have any chance at winning the Pacific, but the Desert Dogs have off until Wednesday. Oh, the Bryz bobblehead is also really cool, if you haven't seen the video about it or anything.