Coyotes Defensive On Path to History
The Phoenix Coyotes are on a roll. They won their sixth consecutive game last night, 2-1 over Tampa Bay, giving them 91 points for the season. That total is the third highest in franchise history and second highest since the move from Winnipeg to Phoenix, and the Coyotes are likely to break the record with 12 games left to play.
All of this is great, even if it's a bit surprising. The Coyotes are one of the worst offensive teams in the league. They are currently tied with St. Louis and Anaheim for 15th in the league in goals scored. Their leading goal scorer, Radim Vrbata, has scored one goal in the last nine games and has had 50 games total this season where he hasn't scored a goal.
There are 15 teams in the league that have at least one player who has already crossed the 60-point threshold, and eight who have at least two. Shane Doan, the Coyotes' point leader, will be fortunate to reach 60 by the end of the regular season.
So how have they succeeded? Defensively, of course. The Coyotes are tied with Chicago for the second-fewest goals allowed this season, and it is largely due to Ilya Bryzgalov's emergence as a top-notch goaltender.
At the age of 29 Bryzgalov, in his third season with Phoenix after spending four years in Anaheim burning a hole in the bench behind J.S. Giguere, has truly come into his own.
There has been little talk about Ilya, since he went to the Olympics but spent the latter games on the bench behind countryman Evgeni Nabokov. Also, he spends his regular season playing out West where nobody watches.
Perhaps it's time to give Bryzgalov his due and start discussing him as a Vezina candidate. He has more wins than Ryan Miller, a better goals against average than Martin Brodeur or Roberto Luongo, and leads the league with eight shutouts (including two in his last four starts, compared to 20 goalies in the league who have more than two total).
The Coyotes are publicly humble about their success so far this season, their first post-lockout outing without Wayne Gretzky as their head coach, but Bryzgalov makes them a team to fear this postseason.
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