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Mueller buoys Coyotes past Blue Jackets

Jan 30, 2008 - 5:06 AM By Dave Holstein PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Ticker) - Rookie center Peter Mueller scored two goals and Ilya Bryzgalov made 22 saves to lead the Phoenix Coyotes to a 4-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.

Mathias Tjarnqvist also tallied and Radim Vrbata added an empty-netter for his 22nd goal of the season for the Coyotes, who have won three straight to pull into a tie with the Colorado Avalanche for eighth place in the Western Conference.

"Right now I think it was one of our best games we played this year," Phoenix coach Wayne Gretzky said. "We matched up against a good team that's playing well. I was really pleased with the effort of the entire team."

"Phoenix was better than we were today," Columbus coach Ken Hitchcock said. "They were quicker on the pucks. We weren't as sharp as we needed to be, we were light with the puck and played loose. You're going to pay for it sometime in the game, and we paid for it at the wrong time."

Mueller scored the eventual game-winner with 6:26 remaining in the third period.

Captain Shane Doan fired a cross-ice pass to the right boards to Mueller, who skated into the zone and fired a wrist shot past between goaltender Pascal Leclaire's pads to give Phoenix a 3-2 lead.

"We broke it out and Doaner (Shane Doan) made a great play to bring it over to the other side," Mueller said. "One of their defenseman jumped up a little too late and we got the puck around them and walked in 2-on-1."

Bryzgalov, who recently signed a three-year contract extension to stay in Phoenix, notched his fourth win in his last five starts.

"We are playing with a lot of confidence right now," Bryzgalov said. "This was a big win for the team and every point is important now for the playoffs."

Columbus managed only five shots on goal in the first period, but made the first one count as Fredrik Modin scored just 21 seconds into the game.

Manny Malhotra took a shot that went off defenseman Matt Jones and right to Modin, who wristed a shot from the right side which beat Bryzgalov for his second goal of the season.

"Manny made a great play and we got a lucky bounce," Modin said. "When the puck came to me, I just tried to put it on net and it went in. It was a big goal and got us off to a good start."

The tally was the fastest this season to start a game for the Blue Jackets.

Phoenix leveled the contest 7:01 into the second period when Mueller scored a power-play goal.

With Derick Brassard in the box for tripping, Mueller scored 14 seconds into the power play when he skated in from the right side along the goal line and stuffed the puck inside the near post.

"It was a good game for us," Mueller said. "My line personally picked it up and we were able to find ways to score."

Columbus and Phoenix traded goals again before Mueller's game-winner slipped past Leclaire in the third period.

With the loss, Columbus failed to extend its franchise-best home winning streak to seven games.

"These things happen," Leclaire said. "We don't have time right now to worry. We're going to come out (on Wednesday) ready to work and come up with a good effort in Nashville."