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Jokinen stars in debut with Coyotes

Oct 12, 2008 - 6:25 AM GLENDALE, Arizona (Ticker) -- Olli Jokinen already is proving his worth to the Phoenix Coyotes.

Jokinen scored a goal and set up another in his first game with his new team, leading the Coyotes to a 3-1 triumph Saturday over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Defenseman Keith Yandle also scored and Ilya Bryzgalov made 28 saves for Phoenix, which improved its franchise record to 14-11-4 in season-opening games. The Coyotes have won five straight home openers and 10 of 12 since moving from Winnipeg.

"We know Bryz can do it, and we want him to go out and do it every night," Phoenix coach Wayne Gretzky said. "He has the ability to be one of the top 10 goalies in the National Hockey League, and now he is going to get a chance to prove it. It was a great start for him. I thought he made some key saves, especially at the start of the second period."

Derick Brassard netted his second goal of the season for Columbus, which fell to 4-1-1 in its last six visits to Jobing.com Arena.

Acquired from Florida over the summer, Jokinen opened the scoring with a power-play goal just 6:11 into the contest. Alone in the slot, the Finn received a pass from the top of the left faceoff circle by rookie Kyle Turris and spun around before firing the puck past goaltender Pascal Leclaire.

"It's nice to score," Jokinen said. "That play (Turris) made to set me up on that first goal, it looked like he has been in the league for 10 years. But it was just his fourth game. I just tried to hit the net and it went in."

Later in the first period, Jokinen set up Peter Mueller for a man-advantage tally, capping his two-point debut.

"We came out flying," Jokinen said. "A lot of guys were playing their first game, and the first 15 minutes was good hockey for us. ... It was good to get the lead. In this league, it's a learning process for our hockey club. Every day, we need to learn something."

"If we do that every game, where we score early and then score again and then let the young guys play, that will be great," Coyotes captain Shane Doan said. "We have to have big starts, at home especially. The next four games are on the road, so it was big to get the win here before we got out and play at four tough places."

With teammate Mike Commodore in the penalty box for interference as the second period began, Columbus' Rick Nash had two golden opportunities to halve the deficit. But the captain shot wide of the right goalpost on a breakaway just 40 seconds into the session and missed wide left on another shorthanded solo rush 20 seconds later.

"I think I had (Bryzgalov) beat both times. It was just a matter of missing the net," Nash said. "His glove was low on the first one, and I know I had him beat on the second one. Credit him because I missed the net. He covered most of the net."

"I tried to challenge him," Bryzgalov said. "I just closed my eyes. He sees the net, I can only see the player. Maybe there was no room to shoot, I don't know. He missed the net. That was good for us."

Gretzky was surprised to see Nash fail on both of his chances.

"Very rarely do you see Nash miss one, let alone two," Gretzky said. "Then he had a third one in tight. He seemed to be dangerous every time he got near the puck."

The Blue Jackets finally got on the scoreboard at 4:10, when Brassard - the sixth overall pick of the 2006 draft - received the puck at the top of the right circle, drifted to the top of the slot and fired a slap shot inside the right post during a power play.

Yandle restored Phoenix's two-goal bulge less than three minutes later, however, drilling a slapper past a screened Leclaire at 6:44 for the final margin.

"The third goal was a killer," Columbus coach Ken Hitchcock said. "I think we were really coming back and taking it to them. We dug ourselves a hole, then tried to get out of it. When you dig yourself a hole like that, you waste a lot of energy."