Ekman-Larsson helps Coyotes clip Flyers
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Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - Oliver Ekman-Larsson's power-play goal late in the second period broke a tie and lifted the Phoenix Coyotes to a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Coyotes, in the midst of a five-game road trip after opening the season with a 4-1 home win over the Rangers, got a tremendous effort in net from Thomas Greiss, who made 36 saves. Greiss stopped an Adam Hall penalty shot in the first period.
Phoenix improved to 2-2-0 on the trip, which comes to an end Sunday at Carolina.
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"This is a very tough building to win in," said Coyotes forward Shane Doan. "You look throughout the year and you see a lot of teams that you know and it's big to get two points coming out of here."
Rob Klinkhammer was credited with the other Coyotes goal.
Maxime Talbot netted the lone goal for the Flyers, who lost for the first time under interim coach Craig Berube. Philadelphia was coming off a 2-1 victory against the Panthers in Berube's debut after he took over for the fired Peter Laviolette.
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"Phoenix plays really tight hockey and they came in and played well," said Talbot. "They played solid defensively, and we worked hard. We did some good things but it's a process and we have to keep building."
Steve Mason made 29 saves in defeat.
After Greiss denied a Flyers 2-on-1 opportunity less than two minutes into the game, Phoenix capitalized on the other end with a goal at the 2:41 mark. Derek Morris launched a wrister from the blue line at Mason, who failed to corral the deflected puck, which trickled underneath the Flyers net-minder and into the goal. Klinkhammer was credited with his first goal of the season on the deflection.
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The Coyotes held their 1-0 edge until late in the second period when Sean Couturier tried a wrap-around shot that caromed to Zac Rinaldo, who fired a shot from the point that kicked off of Talbot's skate and past Greiss to knot the score at 1-1.
The tie lasted a little more than two minutes. Rinaldo was whistled for a high-sticking penalty 25.8 seconds before intermission and in the final seconds of the second period, Ekman-Larsson put Phoenix back on top. Mike Ribeiro centered to the 22-year old Swede, who juked Talbot before ricocheting a shot off Mason's glove and into the back of the net.
"That was a big power play goal," said Phoenix coach Dave Tippett. "We went into the third period knowing that we had a lead, and if we could just play solid, we should be able to push a win along."
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Greiss stopped all 10 shots he faced in the final period to secure the lead.
Game Notes
The Flyers beat Phoenix in both meetings between the teams in 2011-12. They did not meet last season due to the lockout ... The Coyotes entered the game jut 9-for-14 killing power plays this season, but stopped the Flyers on all four man advantages ... Flyers forwards Scott Hartnell and Vincent Lecavalier both left the game with lower body injuries.