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Hanzal, Reinprecht power Coyotes past Maple Leafs

Dec 5, 2008 - 6:09 AM GLENDALE, Arizona (Ticker) -- Martin Hanzal recorded his first career hat trick and Steven Reinprecht scored twice in the third period as the Phoenix Coyotes posted a 6-3 triumph over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.

After notching three goals in his previous 24 games and just eight in his rookie campaign in 2007-08, Hanzal scored twice in the first period and added a shorthanded tally just 27 seconds into the middle session to complete the hat trick.

"It is amazing because I never scored two goals, and now I have a hat trick," Hanzal said. "I really enjoyed this game. I just picked up the rebound and got lucky on the first two goals, and yes, the third, too."

What made the feat all the more special was the fact Hanzal accomplished it in front of his parents.

"The timing was perfect," he said. "They are leaving tomorrow and have been here for a couple of weeks, so I am glad they saw it. It was for them."

Todd Fedoruk also tallied and defensemen Ed Jovanovski and Derek Morris notched two assists apiece as Phoenix improved to 4-1-0 in its last five games.

After Mikael Tellqvist allowed three goals on nine shots over two periods, Ilya Bryzgalov started the third and stopped all nine shots he faced.

"I felt that Telly got us to that point, and Bryzgalov has worked hard the last three days and we needed a pressure-cooker out of him in the third and he made some big saves," Phoenix coach Wayne Gretzky said. "It was a gut feel to make the change, and I did it more to push the team than to take Telly out."

Alexei Ponikarovsky scored twice, Jason Blake had a goal and two assists and Dominic Moore set up a pair of tallies for Toronto, which has dropped two in a row and surrendered 33 goals in its last nine contests.

"That is a lot of goals against, obviously," said Maple Leafs goaltender Vesa Toskala, who made 20 saves. "I couldn't help the team much today."

"We didn't look like we had anything in the tank in the third period," Toronto coach Ron Wilson said. "They got us on our heels and we never go it going. We just need everybody with a better effort. Tried to rest up, tried to have better energy for the game - it just didn't work."

With the game tied at 3-3 just over five minutes into the third period, Morris unleashed a shot from the right point that deflected off the stick of Reinprecht and past a screened Toskala.

Reinprecht doubled the advantage just over nine minutes later, and Fedoruk tallied with 3:52 to cap the scoring.

"We wanted to play with some energy in the third, get some pucks on the net, and when you do that, good things happen," Reinprecht said. "We got some big point shots and some rebounds, and that is how you are going to be successful."

Hanzal opened the scoring 2:07 into the contest and gave the Coyotes a 2-1 lead nearly 10 minutes later, netting both goals after gathering rebounds.

The 21-year-old Czech completed the hat trick early in the second period, settling a bouncing puck on the doorstep before tucking it past Toskala. The tally gave Phoenix a 3-2 lead.

"The guys came up large when they had to, and when the game was on the line, Marty was excellent," Gretzky said.