Joffrey Lupul wasn't interested in style points, just the two points the Toronto Maple Leafs earned after his deciding goal in the shootout gave them a 2-1 victory against the Phoenix Coyotes on Thursday.
"We weren't feeling that great about
ourselves the past couple of days," Lupul said after Toronto
ended a two-game losing streak and won for the second time in seven
games. "It's funny how one ugly, grind-it-out win like that,
we'll come to the rink feeling a lot better tomorrow, a lot more
positive energy. It was a hard-fought game both ways. There are
things we can do better; there are probably things they can do
better. But it's a big two points for us. We're going to take the
positives out of it, look at the things we can do better and go from
there."
The shootout started with some controversy.
Toronto's James
van Riemsdyk was credited with a goal on the first attempt
although neither referee appeared to signal the puck had gotten under
goaltender Mike
Smith's pad and over the goal line.
"[Referee] Paul Devorski told me '100
percent, I saw it in,'" Phoenix coach Dave Tippett said.
"Paul was looking down the other way, where you don't see him
in the television camera, and you've got to take him for his word. He
didn't point to it, but he told [goalie Mike
Smith] that it was a goal."
Mikkel
Boedker got the Coyotes even by scoring on the next shot, but on
the third round, Lupul whipped a shot from the slot past Smith and
under the crossbar before Toronto goaltender James
Reimer ended the game by denying Antoine
Vermette's attempt.
"Tonight was just a good, solid team
effort," Reimer said after winning for the third time in as
many shootouts this season. "I'm really proud of the way the
guys worked. They put in a good, honest effort. We played solid for
60 minutes. I thought we contained them well and fought hard."
The Maple Leafs had lost six in a row to the
Coyotes since a 5-4 victory at Phoenix on Oct. 23, 2003. They hadn't
beaten them at Air Canada Centre since winning 5-3 on Oct. 17, 2002.
Reimer stopped 34 shots; Smith made 26 saves. Phoenix, 0-2-1 in its
past three games, attempted 77 shots to 47 for Toronto (18-16-3) but
missed the net 22 times and had 20 attempts blocked.
"It's a step in the right direction,"
Tippett said of getting a point. "We have a lot of guys who
are banged up and trying to elevate their game. Hopefully we can
build on this and go into Ottawa [on Saturday] and play well."
Phoenix (18-10-6) generated few scoring
opportunities against a stubborn Toronto defense before Martin
Hanzal tied the game with 4:52 left in regulation. Hanzal came
out from behind the net to the left of Reimer and scored on a
wraparound. It was his ninth of the season, first in eight games, and
ended the Coyotes' goal drought at 108:54.
"We wanted to play a hard road game, a
simple road game," Tippett said. "We were almost too
simple in the first period; we didn't create anything. But our tempo
got better as the game went on, and we created multiple opportunities
in the third period."
The Maple Leafs took a 1-0 lead when Troy
Bodie knocked in a rebound at 15:52 of the first period. Phoenix
failed to clear its zone, and Peter
Holland fed Cody
Franson for a straightaway wrist shot from just inside the blue
line. Smith saw the shot through traffic and made the stop, but Bodie
was alone in front and backhanded the rebound through Smith's pads
for his first of the season.
"We got a good forecheck," Bodie
said. "I just went to the net and banged it in."
Bodie's goal was one of the few scoring chances in
a first period when Toronto outshot Phoenix 8-5. Defense continued to
dominate in the second. Toronto had the best chance just after the
15-minute mark when a takeaway by Franson in the neutral zone led to
a 3-on-1 break. Holland had his shot from the slot blocked and Smith
dove to stop Lupul's try on the rebound. Reimer faced one of his few
tests through 40 minutes with 2:35 left in the period when he went
right to left to deny defenseman Michael
Stone's one-timer from well inside the right circle.
At the start of the shootout between the Phoenix Coyotes and the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night, James van Riemsdyk skated in and slid the puck at goalie Mike Smith. The Coyotes keeper trapped the puck under his pad but momentum carried him back into the net. Was the puck in? Did he make the save? There was no signal from referees Paul Devorski and Rob Martell.
A goal, apparently, even if neither official signaled it. The Maple Leafs would score a second goal in the shootout via Joffrey Lupul, winning the game 2-1.
So what happened here?
“Paul Devorski told me that ‘100 percent’ it’s in,” said Coyotes Coach Dave Tippett. “You gotta take him for his word. The video was inconclusive, but Paul said ‘110 percent, Tip, I saw it in.’”
As for not signaling a goal, Tippett said that Devorski indicated to Smith that the puck had gone in. So there wasn’t a goal signal, but there was a call on the ice, which apparently the officials felt the need to keep from the fans, players, coaches and viewers at home. OK then.
"There's only one guy in this whole building that saw it go in, so I guess you have to respect his call," said Smith, who said the ref "whispered" it to him. Because that's not odd.
The poor decision lead many Coyotes fans to compare Devorski to former official and Phoenix hater Don Koharski. Who it seemed took great delight in favouring any side over the Coyotes. If Koharski's name is familiar to other hockey fans, he will always be best remembered for an incident that occurred following Game 3 of the 1988 Prince of Wales Conference Finals between the Boston Bruins and the New Jersey Devils at Brendan Byrne Arena. Devils coach Jim Schoenfeld was infuriated with Koharski’s performance and waited for him in the hallway near the officials’ dressing room. Koharski fell, but believed Schoenfeld had pushed him. Koharski yelled several times after Schoenfeld "You're done", implying that he would be suspended over the incident, and said he hoped the incident was on tape. Schoenfeld responded by yelling in Koharski's direction, "Good, because you fell, you fat pig! Have another doughnut! Have another doughnut!" (A videotape of this incident recorded by WABC has become part of sports television lore ever since, usually when discussing coaches losing their tempers.)
The NHL responded by suspending
Schoenfeld, but the Devils took legal action and were granted a court
order staying the suspension. The National Hockey League
Officials' Association stood by Koharski; its members said they would
not take the ice in the next game between the Devils and the Bruins
if Schoenfeld was allowed to coach. This resulted in the NHL being
forced to use low-level replacement officials for the game, with the
two linesmen wearing Devils-coloured Cooperall long pants (at the time, green pants with red-and-white stripes),
along with white helmets and yellow practice jerseys over their
street clothes.
The incident was parodied in the movie Wayne's
World, in which Frederick
Coffin played a police officer named "Officer Koharski."
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