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Whitney scores twice as Coyotes top Devils

Oct 28, 2011 - 5:56 AM Glendale, AZ (Sports Network) - Ray Whitney registered two goals and one assist, Mike Smith made 31 saves and the Phoenix Coyotes earned a 5-3 win over the New Jersey Devils.

Keith Yandle, Radim Vrbata and David Schlemko each had two assists for the Coyotes, who were held to four goals during its three-game skid at home.

"As a group, we played much better for the entire game," Whitney said.

Johan Hedberg yielded five goals on 42 shots for New Jersey, which has dropped three of four.

"We were chasing from behind all night," said New Jersey head coach Peter DeBoer. "They came at us in the first period and dictated the play. We had a little bit of a pushback."

Even after the first period on goals from Patrick O'Sullivan and Zach Parise, Mark Fayne put the Devils up 2-1 with a blast from the point at the 5:28 mark of the middle stanza.

The Coyotes then scored four consecutive goals.

Whitney's 99th career power-play goal tied the game at 11:24 of the second. The veteran forward gathered a puck at the bottom of the right circle and fired a shot over the left pad and under the glove of Hedberg. Raffi Torres buried a juicy rebound to put Phoenix in front with 49 seconds to go in the frame.

Martin Hanzal converted a feed from Whitney to make it 4-2 at 12:16 of the third, then returned the favor a little over two minutes later, setting up Whitney for his second tally.

New Jersey got a goal from Nick Palmieri late in regulation.

Game Notes

The Devils have lost seven of the last 10 meetings in Phoenix...The Coyotes were 1-for-4 on the power play...New Jersey failed to score on its lone chance with the man advantage.