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Vrbata, Coyotes derail Stars

Feb 15, 2008 - 6:06 AM GLENDALE, Arizona (Ticker) -- Radim Vrbata recorded a goal and two assists as the Phoenix Coyotes snapped the Dallas Stars' seven-game winning streak with a 5-2 victory on Thursday night.

Captain Shane Doan notched a goal and an assist and Daniel Carcillo, Niko Kapanen and defenseman Nick Boynton also scored for the Coyotes, who posted their first win in five games (1-3-1).

"We've been pretty disappointed with our last four games," Doan said. "This was a big win for us."

Ilya Bryzgalov made 32 saves for his first victory since January 29 at Columbus.

"He went through one of those down points in the season, and we needed him to raise his level of play," Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky said. "He was putting so much pressure on himself, but at the end of the day, you have to relax and enjoy the game."

Jussi Jokinen and rookie defenseman Matt Niskanen scored for the Stars.

"We just didn't do enough to win," Dallas coach Dave Tippett said matter-of-factly. "To win in this league, you have to do enough to win, and we didn't do enough to win."

Carcillo snapped a 1-1 tie at 16:32 of the first period, when he gained possession of the puck behind the net, skated out in front and beat goaltender Marty Turco for his sixth goal of the season.

A former Star, Kapanen gave the Coyotes a two-goal advantage with 78 seconds remaining in the second period, slapping in a rebound for his second goal in as many games.

"Tonight, we were just on our heels a little bit more," Stars captain Brenden Morrow said. "We had a lot of good opportunities to score, but Bryzgalov had another pretty good game."

Vrbata added his 100th career goal 5:22 into the third period, when he accepted a long outlet pass from Doan before deking Turco to the ice and backhanding the puck into the net for a shorthanded tally.

"I was getting kind of hooked a little bit, so I wasn't sure if I had time for it," Vrbata said of his move. "But I was able to pull away a little bit from the D, and that move worked."

Doan opened the scoring at 11:29 with a power-play goal from the left faceoff circle. It was his 12th career goal against Turco, the most by any player against the netminder.

"We've played against each other a lot, that's the main thing," Doan said.

Jokinen leveled the contest nearly 2 1/2 minutes later, when he stole the puck from Phoenix defenseman Keith Yandle at the right side of the net and slipped a wrist shot past Bryzgalov.

"(Yandle) got his pocket picked and bang, it was in the net," Gretzky said. "It could have happened to anybody."