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Gretzky gets win No. 100 against former team

Feb 19, 2008 - 6:58 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Wayne Gretzky spent eight seasons with the Los Angeles Kings as a player, and he really seems to enjoy coaching against his former team.

With his No. 99 jersey hanging from the rafters at the Staples Center, "The Great One" recorded his 100th career win as a coach Monday night as the Phoenix Coyotes defeated the Kings, 4-0, for the sixth straight time his season.

Gretzky, who holds almost every significant offensive record in the NHL, achieved the milestone in his third year behind the bench in Phoenix. Over that span, the Coyotes have posted a 15-6-1 record against the Kings.

"I don't really worry about that stuff," said Gretzky of reaching the 100-win plateau. "We are in the hunt for the playoff drive and we are playing a lot better than most people anticipated. It was a great team effort.

"There's something about this group. They rally around each other. I thought the guys came out and took a lead. We're definitely heading in the right direction for the playoffs."

The Hall of Famer, however, has yet to lead Phoenix to the postseason during his coaching tenure. That could change this season as the Coyotes have climbed into a three-way tie with the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks for the final two spots in the Western Conference playoff race.

Radim Vrbata scored a goal and set up two others and defenseman Ed Jovanovski added a goal and an assist for Phoenix, which posted a 4-3 victory over Los Angeles in the first game of the home-and-home series on Saturday.

Coyotes goaltender Mikael Tellqvist made 34 saves to register his second shutout of the season and sixth career.

"Obviously it was nice to have the shutout," Tellqvist said. "We're having a lot of fun out there and I got a chance to play. We're in playoff mode, lose a game and we are out of the playoffs. Every game is important to us."

Jovanovski, who now has two goals and 10 points against the Kings this season, blasted a power-play goal between the pads of netminder Jason LaBarbera to give Phoenix an early 1-0 lead at the 3:45 mark of the opening session.

Vrbata, who assisted on Jovanovski's goal moments earlier, intercepted Dustin Brown's pass attempt at the Kings' blue line and skated in on a breakaway. He deked to the backhand and lifted a shot over LaBarbera's right pad.

"We have been clicking," Vrbata said. "I said it before, we have to keep it going the same way."

Daniel Carcillo gave Phoenix a 3-0 edge when he toe-dragged past Kings defenseman Kevin Dallman and then banked a backhand shot off the goalpost and in at 4:16 of the second period.

The Coyotes made it 4-0 with 7:20 remaining in the middle session when Jovanovski took a drop pass from rookie Peter Mueller and made a cross-ice pass to Daniel Winnik at the edge of the crease. Winnik converted for his ninth tally of the campaign.

"It wasn't brought up (of Gretzky's 100th win). But good for him. He's really worked hard to get us to play a certain way," Jovanovski said. "And it's working for us. We are running out of games right now. You win, you move up, you lose, you slide a couple of spots. Points are crucial right now."

LaBarbera turned aside 25 shots for Los Angeles, which has lost three of its last four contests.

"It was a disappointing effort," Kings coach Marc Crawford said. "We looked like we were a tired hockey club, but that's not an excuse, it's an observation. We got several chances in the third period, but the game was over."