Coyotes beat Flames 4-3 in shootout

[February 24, 2012]  CALGARY, Alberta (AP) -- Ray Whitney scored the lone goal of the shootout Thursday to lead the Phoenix Coyotes to a 4-3 win over the Calgary Flames.

Whitney also had a goal and an assist in regulation for the Coyotes, who won their fourth straight and improved to 9-0-1 in their past 10. Shane Doan and former Flames forward Daymond Langkow also scored in regulation for Phoenix.

Alex Tanguay had a goal and an assist in the first period for the Flames, who lost their second straight game at home. Matt Stajan and Olli Jokinen also scored.

Mike Smith made 21 saves in the Phoenix net before turning aside both Tanguay and Jarome Iginla to secure the shootout victory. Smith extended his career-high winning streak to nine games and his personal record against the Flames to 3-0.

Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 26 shots.

The game marked the return of forward Curtis Glencross and defenseman Derek Smith to Calgary's lineup. Glencross missed 13 games with a knee injury, while Smith sat out the last 22 with a high-ankle sprain.

Smith made an early impact as he fired a point shot on the Phoenix net that Smith bobbled before directing wide.

Glencross then almost put the Flames up 1-0 when he redirected a pass from Iginla off the post before Smith kicked the puck out of the way.

A short time later, Smith left his net to play the puck with Glencross bearing down on him. Tanguay intercepted Smith's clearing attempt along the sideboards and directed a pass into the slot that deflected off Coyotes forward Lauri Korpikoski and into the wide-open Phoenix net.

The Flames continued to press and built their lead to 2-0 when Stajan converted a feed from Tanguay to end a 14-game goalless drought.

Langkow drew the Coyotes within a goal at 1:32 of the second period when he one-timed a pass from Whitney into the top corner over Kiprusoff's blocker.

Phoenix nearly tied the game a short time later when newly acquired forward Antoine Vermette rang a shot off the post.

Just 1 second after the Flames killed off a hooking penalty to Jay Bouwmeester, Doan tipped in a point shot by Oliver Ekman-Larsson to tie the game 2-2. Keith Yandle intercepted a clearing attempt by Blake Comeau to get the play started.

Whitney took advantage of a brutal turnover by Calgary defenseman Scott Hannan and scored on a breakaway midway in the third period to give the Coyotes a 3-2 lead. After Hannan tripped and lost control of the puck at his blue line, Whitney broke in alone on Kiprusoff and made a quick move before depositing a forehand shot into the net.

With Radim Vrbata in the penalty box for tripping, Jokinen backhanded a rebound past Smith with 1:46 left in regulation.

After a scoreless overtime, Whitney snapped a shot over Kiprusoff's right pad for the winning goal.

NOTES: The Coyotes acquired Vermette from the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday in exchange for goalie Curtis McElhinney and a pair of draft picks. ... Flames forward Krys Kolanos, who left the game with a lower-body injury in the second period, was originally drafted by the Coyotes in the first round (19th overall) in 2000 in his hometown of Calgary. Kolanos, who has one assist in 10 games with the Flames, scored 17 goals and added 18 assists in 109 games with the Coyotes from 2001-06. ... After the loss, the Flames are now 14-5-9 in one-goal games this season.

[Associated Press]

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