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Quick goals in third lead Coyotes past Blues

Oct 5, 2007 - 6:25 AM GLENDALE, Arizona (Ticker) -- The Phoenix Coyotes proved the critics wrong, at least for one night.

Expected to finish at the bottom of the Western Conference due to a lack of offense, the Coyotes received goals 12 seconds apart by Mike York and rookie Daniel Winnik less than eight minutes into the third period and held on for a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues in the season opener for both clubs Thursday.

Boasting just one player who scored more than 20 goals last season, Phoenix is expected to have a difficult time generating offense in the highly competitive conference. But after a slow start Thursday, the Coyotes netted the game's first tally midway through the second period and added two more in quick fashion during the first half of the third to grab a 3-0 lead.

"Coming into tonight, players were excited about opening night," Phoenix coach Wayne Gretzky said. "To have the kind of response we had tonight was exciting. It was a really good hockey game for us to be involved in."

Defenseman Keith Ballard got things started with 7:45 left in the middle session. Streaking down the right wing, Ballard received a pass from captain Shane Doan and carried through the faceoff circle before unleashing a shot on goaltender Manny Legace.

The netminder made the save and also stopped Ballard's second attempt. But from his knees, the blue-liner lifted a backhander into the top right corner of the net on his third chance for a 1-0 advantage.

"Their second and third effort was much stronger than ours, and in most cases, that's the difference in a hockey game," Blues coach Andy Murray said. "You have to play hard when you have everything to win. ... We have to play harder when it's 0-0 than when we get down."

At 7:18 of the third, York wristed a shot from the right circle just inside the left goalpost to double the lead. Just 12 seconds later, Winnik - a ninth-round pick in 2004 - converted a cross-slot pass by 2005 first-round selection Martin Hanzal, who fought off a check by Doug Weight in the right circle.

"It was great to hear the crowd roar, but the credit goes to my linemates," the 22-year-old Winnik said. "Martin Hanzal made a great pass at the blue line and Craig Weller made a good feed. It was kind of a gift-wrapped goal."

"We need all the young guys playing, and they're going to get minutes on the power play and chances in every situation," Doan said.

The Blues refused to go quietly, however, as Keith Tkachuk beat goalie Mikael Tellqvist from the low slot 28 seconds after Winnik's tally to cut the deficit to 3-1. On a power play later in the period, Brad Boyes deflected Paul Kariya's cross-crease pass attempt by Tellqvist with 6:43 remaining, drawing St. Louis within a goal.

"When you're behind, you tend to take chances," Tkachuk said. "And when your backs are against the wall, you have nothing to lose. I just wish we played like that in the first 40 minutes. That's what cost us the game.

"They played with a lot of emotion in the first and second periods and we stood around and watched."

Tellqvist made 22 saves for the Coyotes, who improved to 9-2-0 in home openers since the franchise moved from Winnipeg to Phoenix in 1996.

"It got interesting in the third period, and it was good for the fans," Tellqvist said. "Ultimately, I think it was our defense that won us the game."

Legace stopped 31 shots for St. Louis, which fell to 0-3-1 in season openers against Phoenix.

"It was good to see him play well," Weight said. "He is going to be key to our success this season."