{coyotes} Maple Leafs end streak against Coyotes in shootout

Thursday, 19 December 2013

{coyotes} Maple Leafs end streak against Coyotes in shootout

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Joffrey Lupul scored the deciding goal in the shootout to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 2-1 victory against the Phoenix Coyotes on Thursday.

Toronto's James van Riemsdyk and Phoenix's Mikkel Boedker each scored in the first round of the tiebreaker; van Riemsdyk's goal stood after an inconclusive video review wasn't enough to overturn the call on the ice. In the third round, Lupul whipped a shot from the slot past Mike Smith and under the crossbar before Toronto goaltender James Reimer ended the game by denying Antoine Vermette's attempt.

Toronto ended a two-game losing streak and won for the second time in seven games. Phoenix is 0-2-1 in its past three games.

The Maple Leafs had lost six in a row to the Coyotes since a 5-4 victory in Phoenix on Oct. 23, 2003. They hadn't beaten Phoenix at Air Canada Centre since winning 5-3 on Oct. 17, 2002.

Reimer stopped 34 shots; Smith made 26 saves. The Coyotes attempted 77 shots to 47 for Toronto (18-16-3) but missed the net 22 times and had 20 attempts blocked.

The Coyotes (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 a goal drought of 108:54 for Phoenix.

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.

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 period. Toronto had the best chance just after the 15-minute mark when 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.

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