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Gratton scores 200th goal as Panthers top Coyotes

Feb 11, 2007 - 6:05 AM SUNRISE, Florida (Ticker) -- Florida Panthers coach Jacques Martin relied on a balanced attack to prolong the team's success at home.

Chris Gratton scored his 200th career goal and added an assist and Ed Belfour made 23 saves as the Panthers snapped a three-game slide with a 5-2 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes.

Nathan Horton, captain Olli Jokinen and Martin Gelinas also contributed a tally and an assist apiece for Florida, which raised its mark to 7-2-1 in its last 10 home contests.

"Tonight, our leaders really came out and played hard," Martin said. "We really believe we're going to have to put a string together."

"We didn't do anything special," Jokinen said. "We just stuck to our plan. They were the team that was turning the puck over. Usually, it (has) been us, but tonight we were pretty good."

Horton scored for the third consecutive game, beating goaltender Curtis Joseph with a wraparound at the right goalpost at 9:10 of the first period for a 1-0 edge.

After Jokinen put a bad-angle shot inside the right post for his 24th of the season nearly 3 1/2 minutes later, veteran Gary Roberts netted his 13th tally of the campaign and first since December 23 with 4:51 left in the period for a 3-0 bulge.

"We're in the same boat together," Jokinen said. "They're in the same situation we are. Bottom line (is), .500 hockey is not going to bring us anywhere, so we need to play .800 or .900 hockey the rest of the year if we want to go anywhere."

Gratton reached his milestone at 7:16 of the third session. The former Coyote scored his ninth goal of the season off a 2-on-1 rush, firing a shot past netminder Mikael Tellqvist, who replaced Joseph earlier in the period.

"The win is more important," Gratton said. "I didn't realize (No. 200) was coming up. It's neat. It's unfortunate that it took me 13 years to get there, but it's something I can look back on maybe when I'm done and be proud of and enjoy the moment tonight."

For Gratton, who picked up a goal and two assists in Tuesday's overtime loss to Colorado, it was his ninth tally of the campaign. His career high of 30 came in 1996-97 while with Tampa Bay.

"Anytime you score a goal in this league, it's a lot of fun," Gratton said. "It was a heck of a pass by Olli. The last couple of games, he (has) given me some great passes."

The league's third-winningest goaltender of all-time with 471 wins, Belfour ended a personal three-game skid for his 14th victory of the season. He made seven stops in the first period and six in the second before yielding goals by Frederik Sjostrom and defenseman Keith Ballard in the final session.

Joseph stopped 25 shots and Tellqvist eight for the Coyotes, who have dropped five of their last seven contests.

"Guys hate losing," Coyotes captain Shane Doan said following a players-only meeting after the game. "We're disappointed with our effort. As players, you don't want to accept that. If you tolerate it, you authorize it, and that's not acceptable."

"I didn't like what transpired tonight," Phoenix coach Wayne Gretzky said. "It wasn't pretty to watch. We got beat pretty much all over the ice. ... We have to address some of the players here that aren't producing. That's first and foremost."