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Senators-Coyotes Preview

Dec 4, 2009 - 7:47 PM By MATT BEARDMORE STATS Writer

Ottawa (13-9-4) at Phoenix (16-11-1), 10:00 p.m. EDT

After defeating one of the NHL's best road teams, the Phoenix Coyotes look to continue their strong play when they take on a club that hasn't won on an opponent's home ice in more than a month.

Phoenix tries to win its fourth straight overall and fourth in a row at home Saturday night when it faces the Ottawa Senators, who are attempting to avoid their seventh consecutive road loss.

The Coyotes (16-11-1) snapped Calgary's franchise-record 10-game road point streak with Thursday's 2-1 victory.

Taylor Pyatt's winner with 3:29 left ended his 13-game goal scoring drought and handed the Flames their first road loss in regulation since mid- October.

"It's definitely a big win for us against that team," Pyatt said. "That's been one of the best road teams in the league."

Ottawa has not enjoyed that type of success on the road. The Senators fell to 0-2-1 on their five-game trip with Thursday's 6-3 loss to Los Angeles and haven't won away from home since beating Florida 4-3 on Oct. 28.

Ottawa (13-9-4) rallied from a 3-1 second-period deficit as Jonathan Cheechoo and Mike Fisher found the back of the net, but the Kings responded with three unanswered goals.

"It was a frustrating game," Fisher said following his second two-goal game of the season. "I thought we did a lot of good things offensively and got some pucks to the net, but there were some breakdowns. It seemed like every chance they got, they made the best of it. We just couldn't find enough to score late. ... We got back in it after being down a couple, and we were feeling pretty good, but they stayed on the gas pedal."

Ottawa will try to get back on track with its sixth straight victory over Phoenix. The Coyotes' last win against the Senators was 3-2 on March 9, 2002.

In the teams' last meeting, the host Senators won 6-3 on Oct. 17, 2008, behind two goals apiece from Jarkko Ruutu and Jason Spezza. Daniel Alfredsson, who leads Ottawa with 17 assists and 26 points, had two assists in that matchup.

Alfredsson has seven goals and 11 assists in his last eight games versus Phoenix.

Adding to that total Saturday could be a challenge the way Coyotes goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov is playing. Bryzgalov, among the NHL leaders with a 2.07 goals-against average, is 3-0-0 with a 1.65 GAA in his last three games.

He is 9-3-0 with a 1.81 GAA at home.

Ottawa's Brian Elliott hasn't fared as well in net this season. Since taking over for the injured Pascal Leclaire (broken cheekbone) last month, Elliott is 2-3-1 with a 3.13 GAA. Making his sixth consecutive start Thursday, Elliott allowed a season-high six goals on 24 shots.

"Brian's fighting the puck right now," coach Cory Clouston said. "He's having some adversity, or whatever you want to call it, but he's got to find a way to battle through it."

If Elliott doesn't get the start Saturday, Mike Brodeur, a distant relative of four-time Vezina Trophy winner Martin Brodeur, could make his first NHL appearance after getting called up from Binghamton of the AHL last month.