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Joseph, Coyotes stop Devils

Nov 23, 2006 - 4:59 AM GLENDALE, Arizona (Ticker) -- Curtis Joseph wanted to show his teammates that he could rebound from a bad performance.

Joseph needed to make just 14 saves and defenseman Derek Morris scored for the second time this season as the Phoenix Coyotes posted a 3-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils.

After allowing five goals on 29 shots in Sunday's a 6-4 setback to the Anaheim Ducks, Joseph faced only four shots in the first period, six in the second and five in the third for Phoenix.

"We had good goaltending," Coyotes defenseman Keith Ballard said. "We didn't give up many shots and we scored a few goals. We took it to them most of the game and we showed that we can play with the best teams if we can stick to the game plan and stay disciplined."

"We didn't look like a team that was in sync at all," Devils coach Claude Julien said. "We were all over the place and it showed on the scoreboard. For me, this is unacceptable."

Dave Scatchard tallied the decisive goal 4 1/2 minutes into the second period and Owen Nolan scored shorthanded late in the same session for the Coyotes, who won for the third time in five games and are showing signs of life after a 4-12-0 start.

"It's about time we got a bounce our way," Nolan said. "I just let (Scatchard) take the puck and take it wide, and he made a great effort to get to it first and throw it over. I think Brodeur committed early and gave me the low side."

"Since the 1-0 loss to Dallas on November 9, I have really liked the effort and commitment and unselfishness of our team as a whole," Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky said. "It's been so much better than the first ten games."

John Madden netted his third goal of the season for New Jersey at 1:58 of the second period, which tied the score, 1-1. However, it was not enough to prevent the Devils from losing for the second time in eight games.

"You can't accept showing up at the rink and then playing the way we did tonight," Julien said. "We got to get better and learn from this."

Martin Brodeur stopped 24 shots for the Devils and lost for the third time in his last 10 starts against the Coyotes.

"For some reason, we tried to make some plays," Brodeur said. "(We) turned the puck over and it cost us a couple of goals and we couldn't recover. It's definitely not a game that anybody is going to be happy about."

"They did everything they had to and we didn't respond well," Devils center Scott Gomez said. "We can't play like that the next game."